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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28914819">Karate Kid - but it’s LawRusso</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/staygoldhorseman/pseuds/staygoldhorseman'>staygoldhorseman</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Heaven [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>80s, 80s Universe, A LOT OF FLUFF DUDE, Alternate Universe, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, Karate Kid Universe, M/M, Romantic Fluff, Teen Lawrusso, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, i suck at tags and summaries smh, it’s really just LawRusso with occasional interruptions of actual karate, literally a re-write of karate kid but it’s LawRusso</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:00:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>70,637</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28914819</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/staygoldhorseman/pseuds/staygoldhorseman</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a LawRusso love story that takes place in Karate Kid, and let’s just say a lot of the events from the movie are twisted to fit them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Heaven [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2147364</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>122</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>227</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1 - The Day They Met</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi guys, this is my first fanfic on this site and from this fandom, and I haven’t written anything in a while so this will probably be a little bad and a little cringe.</p><p>Basically this is The Karate Kid but it’s LawRusso and mainly focused LawRusso. The first few chapters might be kinda meh, but it’ll get better.</p><p>I’m not sure if that’s been done before but yep I wrote this mess. I just thought I’d post it since I’m actually inspired to write and I love this ship so much &lt;3 I’m legit obsessed with it </p><p>Enjoy! :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The summer of 1984 was surely an eventful one, to say the least. Moving from dreary New Jersey to sunny California was a huge change. Especially when you absolutely didn’t want to do it.</p><p>Unfortunately, that was the case for 17-year-old Daniel LaRusso. He was not looking forward to the change, the teen was perfectly fine in his run-down, poor neighborhood in New Jersey. It may not be the cleanest or fanciest of all places, but it was home. Until his mom decided to move them. Now California was going to be his home. Daniel doubted he’d like it, since he was going to have to change schools during senior year.</p><p>But, Lucille LaRusso wanted a better life for her and her son, and California would be the way to go. It seemed like a better place, for a better life. She was looking forward to a change. And Daniel was just going to have to deal with it. Daniel noticed how his mother smiled when talking about how excited she was to reach California, if he had a nickel for every time she talked about it on the forty-one hour drive to the golden state, he would be rich.</p><p>All he ever wanted was to see her happy, so he would keep his mouth shut. For now.</p><p>~</p><p>Two days later, they arrived. Los Angles was the polar opposite of Newark. It’s like the whole place turned blonde, and sunny, just BRIGHT. This would take some getting used too. The only thing keeping Daniel from complaining was seeing all of the different states on the way here. Before this, he had never left New Jersey.</p><p>Daniel took a look at their new apartment in Reseda. Needless to say, he wasn’t impressed. The only difference from this and their old apartment in Newark was that this one actually had sunlight and he’s pretty sure his mom mentioned something about a pool.</p><p>“Come on, this is it. This is the end of the line.” Lucille said as he got out of their shitty car, going to the back to get their luggage. Well, the end of the line sucked. Daniel already hated this place.</p><p>“You’re telling me.” Daniel muttered, following her to the back to help her with the luggage. </p><p>“Look at those palm trees! Damn! Do you know what that means?!” The teen sighed in annoyance at his mother’s excitement. It was overwhelming. He didn’t get how she could be so happy about leaving. </p><p>“Yeah, falling coconuts.” Daniel replied nonchalantly. Maybe one would hit him in the head and he’d wake up back in Newark, back in his home where it was small and a bit messy, but at least he knew people.</p><p>“No, wise guy. No more Newark Winters!” Lucille playfully smacked his arm, picking up some of the things they had in the trunk.</p><p>“I like Winters, ma.”</p><p>Lucille started going on about how bad winters in Newark were and how great Reseda would be, even going as far as comparing it to the Garden of Eden. More like the Garden of Hell. Daniel rolled his eyes at her enthusiasm and got his bike from the roof of the car, pulling it down and walking it to the door. He then proceeded to kick the door down.</p><p>However, he knocked some kid down instead. Oops?</p><p>Long story short, the kid he hit was Freddy Fernandez, his next door neighbor. They hit it off fast, and Daniel ended up over- exaggerating his karate skills. Sure, he took a few classes at the YMCA back in Newark, but was nothing. Freddy thought it was cool though, so he ended up inviting him to some party tomorrow instead.</p><p>Also, the pool was basically a green puddle with a swan float, so it sucked. At least he already got invited to a beach party, though.</p><p>Maybe this place wasn’t as god-awful as Daniel thought it would be. Maybe.</p><p>~</p><p>The next day, he found himself at the beach, playing soccer with Freddy and some other boys that went to their school. It was one last party to end the summer, because school started the next day. Daniel was nervous, but he wasn’t about to admit it. He wanted to seem cool, especially in a new place like this.</p><p>While him and the guys were playing, they accidentally kicked the ball over to a group of girls, one of which kept smiling and staring at Daniel. She was pretty, with her curly blonde hair and hazel eyes. Daniel had always been into blondes, so he thought that this girl was cute. Just cute, nothing more.</p><p>The sun started setting, and the boys continued playing soccer, this time closer to the girls so they could check them out. Daniel wasn’t really that interested, but the hazel eyes of the blonde girl were practically following him. The other guys were pressuring him to go talk to her, but again, he wasn’t that interested. He wasn’t going to, until Freddy purposely kicked the ball over there. Now he had no choice.</p><p>Daniel turned around and met the girl halfway, and she was holding the ball, that same smile on her face.</p><p>“Hey, did you lose something?” The girl smiled up at him, looking into his eyes. Daniel got a little nervous and wanted to look away, but instead he bit his lip and ran his hand through his dark brown hair.</p><p>“Yeah, I hope we’re not bothering you.” </p><p>“Hey uh, how do you um, how do you juggle it?” Now the blonde was looking for an excuse to talk to him, Daniel could tell. He decided to just play along. Maybe he could end up being friends with her.</p><p>“Oh uh, it’s pretty easy, here I’ll show ya.” He decided to just show the girl, who told him her name was Ali, how to juggle the ball. No harm in that, right?</p><p>~</p><p>Meanwhile, Johnny Lawerence, another 17-year-old boy, pulled up to the beach on his motorcycle, his four friends following in pursuit. They decided to just hang out at the beach for one more night before school started. It was their senior year, after all. One more year to enjoy before they have to start acting like adults.</p><p>Johnny was the typical rich Encino Hills kid, or so everyone thought. They all assumed he was some spoiled jerk with a happy rich family, using daddy’s money to get whatever he wanted. The kids at school also feared him for being somewhat of a bully, and for being the winner in the All-Valley Karate Tournament for two years in a row. Not to mention he was a black belt at his dojo, Cobra Kai, which happened to be a dojo that didn’t allow pussies, and had very violent teachings.</p><p>That wasn’t who he was, not on the inside. His family wasn’t happy, and Sid wasn’t even his real dad. He never saw Sid as a father figure. The man was a real prick, and he only gave Johnny money so he could keep his image up as the perfect husband and stepfather. Johnny didn’t want to be a bully, either. He only acted that way because that’s what he was taught by John Kreese, his sensei, the man who he really wanted to see as his father. Deep down he knew the man didn’t care about him, but he wanted to believe he did. He wanted to make him proud by going by his dojo’s motto : strike first, strike hard, no mercy. Anyone who crossed his path would pay.</p><p>That was all he had. Cobra Kai was all he had. He could be really sweet when it came to people he cared about, but he refused to show weakness and he refused to back down. He was always angry and the only way he was able to manage it was karate. He had a girlfriend for a while and she made him happy, but it wasn’t enough. The blonde teen secretly feared that it would never be enough, but hell if he would ever admit fear or weakness. Hell if he would ever admit to being brainwashed. Those things are for pussies.</p><p>The only people who could really put up with his more often than out anger (besides Kreese) were his friends : Bobby, Jimmy, Tommy, and Dutch. The only one out of them that was truly bad to the bone was Dutch, who worshipped the ground that Kreese walked on. Jimmy was sort of an instigator, and Tommy just did whatever they did. Bobby had a good heart, he was just hanging around with the wrong people. He would do something bad and feel awful after.</p><p>The five boys took their helmets off, laughing about basically nothing. Dutch started offering everyone beer, typical of him.</p><p>“No, I’ll pass.” Johnny didn’t feel like getting hammered and ending up with a hangover on the first day of school. He actually wanted to do good this year. He had floated his way through high school, never actually putting any effort into the work. He told himself that this year would be different. This would be the year that shaped his future, and would get him into a college so he could get away from Sid.</p><p>“Who are you kidding? You’re an ace degenerate!” Jimmy exclaimed, taking one of the beers from Dutch.</p><p>“Ex-degenerate. Tomorrow I'm a senior. I've got one year to make it all work. And that’s what I’m gonna do, make it work, all of it.” The blonde teen said as he looked at Tommy and then at Bobby, who was smiling in approval and gave him a high five.</p><p>“You must be a trendsetter Johnny, everyone’s doing something new!” Johnny turned back towards Tommy, who was pointing to two figures on the beach.</p><p>Johnny could only see who one person was. Ali. His ex, his first love. He was working towards getting over her, although it would be nice to have her back, since he didn’t really know what to do without her. That’s what happens when you date someone for two years and forget their birthday, causing them to dump you. Maybe it was more than that. Maybe he was just an asshole, or couldn’t give her everything that she needed.</p><p>Either way, he wanted her in his life, preferably as a girlfriend since it was nice to have one. And it’s hard to let go of your first love. If he couldn’t, that would suck but maybe they could be friends. If he couldn’t have her even in that way, this kid couldn’t either. Who does she think she is to move on when it’s only been two weeks?</p><p>Anyways, Ali was playing some sort of soccer game with this random guy, who Johnny didn’t recognize. All he could see was the guy wearing a red sweatshirt, brighter than his Cobra Kai jacket.</p><p>Seeing Ali with another guy pissed him off. It’s only been two weeks, how could she have already moved on? The thing wasn’t that he was still in love with her, it’s that she moved on so quickly. And no one moves on from Johnny Lawerence THAT quickly.</p><p>“Forget it man, it’s ancient history.” Bobby suggested as he saw the look on Johnny’s face turn from a wide smile to a deep frown. He looked passed. And that he was.</p><p>“Who told you, man?” Johnny put his helmet back on and started his bike, ready to get Ali away from this random guy. He wasn’t having any of this. If he couldn’t get back with her, then she couldn’t move on so easily.</p><p>“I thought they broke up.” One of the guys whispered, probably Jimmy, but Johnny couldn’t figure out which one. He didn’t really care, either. </p><p>“She did, he didn’t.” Another one said, and the other four put on their helmets as well and followed their friend down to the beach. This was not going to end well. </p><p>~</p><p>“Like this. Come on, try it.” Daniel had been trying to teach Ali how to juggle with a soccer ball for the past five minutes, let’s just say she wasn’t a quick learner, but she wasn’t slow either. She had fallen on top of him, though. Which was weird.</p><p>The blonde girl attempted to juggle the soccer ball, but ended up kicking it towards the ocean. Daniel sighed and she awkwardly smiled at him. He smiled back and shook his head.</p><p>“I’ll get it, I’ll be right back!” The brunette called from over his shoulder as he ran towards the ball.</p><p>As he was going that, five motorcycles pulled up from behind Ali and a blonde boy jumped off one of them and walked up to Ali, who looked anything but pleased.</p><p>“Ali, I want to talk to you.” Johnny pleaded, looking at his ex with a stern look on his face. Ali didn’t look impressed. </p><p>“Leave me alone.” Daniel heard Ali complaining and turned around, noticing her holding her radio and arguing with some tall, muscular kid. The Jersey teen slowly inched closer, trying to get a good look at the boy.</p><p>“What is your problem?” The blonde boy asked, taking Ali’s radio and turning it off. He just wanted her to focus on him, he just wanted her to talk to him. And he wasn’t going to give up. Never back down from a challenge.</p><p>“Just get out of here! And give me my radio!” Daniel watched as they went back and forth with arguing over the radio, and now he was close enough to see how the blonde boy looked. He was-...damn. He was something.</p><p>Daniel wouldn’t call himself gay, he didn’t go by labels. All he knew was that he found certain boys attractive, just like he found certain girls attractive.</p><p>But this boy-...attractive was an understatement.</p><p>His blonde locks swayed in the wind, his bangs covering his forehead. His eyes were cerulean blue, as blue as the ocean. They stood out in the light, that’s for sure. His face was-...handsome, no doubt about that. Daniel wasn’t sure if he ever saw anything so perfectly structured. His lips looked so damn kissable, even as he was practically yelling at someone. And his body-...those muscles. Damn.</p><p>Daniel bit his lip and tried to look away, but he just couldn’t. This boy was the definition of perfection. Never mind the fact that he seemed to have a bit of a temper, the dark haired boy could see that there was more to him than that. So much more. Daniel knew nothing about this boy but one look at him and he wanted to know everything. It’s like he knew, he just knew, this boy was something. This boy was important.</p><p>The teen’s trance was broken as the boy he was checking out slammed the radio against the ground.</p><p>Johnny had done it again. Lost his temper, and broke something. Ali said she’d talk to him if he gave it back, but he didn’t, so he broke it. That’s what he did, after all, he knew that he probably ruined everything he touched.</p><p>“You just broke my radio!” Ali exclaimed angrily.</p><p>“Yeah.” The blonde teen said matter-of-factly. The curly headed girl looked like she was about to slap him, so Daniel decided to step in. It was a dick move to break the radio, after all.</p><p>“Don’t touch it, p-...uh...” Daniel was cut off by the boy turning around to look at him. Now that he could see his whole face, his whole body, he looked even more perfect. Daniel was speechless.</p><p>Johnny turned around at the sound of a strange accent, his fists balled up, ready to punch someone. This must be the boy who Ali had her hands all over. The rich teen was sure going to let him have it.</p><p>And that’s when he saw him. The boy. The boy who’s ass he was planning to kick. Except now, that was the opposite of what he wanted to do.</p><p>Big dark brown eyes met his own. They were so beautiful, so wide with awe. They resembled a deer. His black hair looked soft, and Johnny would kill just to touch it, just to run his fingers through it. The new boy had a baby face to top it all off, and it was adorable, he was adorable. His glance went from those brown eyes to his lips, which looked even softer than his hair and were naturally slightly parted. Johnny now knew the meaning of perfect. This boy was perfect.</p><p>Johnny wanted to slap himself once he realized what he was doing. Once he realized he was checking out a BOY. His anger went from the fact that Ali was talking to someone else, to the fact that he was checking out a BOY. Boys weren’t supposed to like other boys, right? That’s just not how it was supposed to be. Still, there was no denying that this boy was more than attractive. Johnny hadn’t known true attraction until he saw him. He wanted to know him. He had too.</p><p>But now was not the time or the place to flirt. He knew he wasn’t supposed to flirt anyways, so he had to keep away. There was no other choice. If the guys knew what he was thinking, if Kreese or Sid knew what he was thinking, they wouldn’t hesitate to beat his ass.</p><p>He was just going to have to deny his feelings and then he was going to have to punch this boy extra hard for being so damn cute, and then go home and go to bed and then hopefully forget about the boy when he woke up. Johnny tried not to think about how hard that was going to be.</p><p>“What, scared to take me on? I’m a black belt in karate, I’ll take you down.” Johnny mocked, realizing the kid had stopped mid-sentence. Maybe the reason he couldn’t finish was because he was attracted to him too. The blonde knew that couldn’t possibly be the case.</p><p>But it was. Daniel never believed in love at first sight, now he knew how it felt for the people in the movies. He HAD to know this boy. He had too, somehow. Hopefully for now though, he wouldn’t get his ass kicked too hard.</p><p>“I’m not scared of you, King Karate.” Daniel replied, crossing his arms and smirking at the blonde, biting his lip. Johnny did his best in not turning red.</p><p>“Where the hell did you even come from? You know what, I’m just going to kick your ass.” The blonde threatened, and normally he would keep his word and do it, but he couldn’t move. He didn’t want to hurt this kid. He NEVER wanted to lay a damn finger on him, at least not in this way.</p><p>“Johnny, stop it. Why do you always have to fight?” Ali complained. Johnny rolled his eyes, knowing she was right and he’s been in enough fights to be lucky not to be in jail. But he didn’t want to fight this new kid. He just didn’t.</p><p>“Why aren’t you hitting him? No mercy, man!” Dutch slapped him on the back, and it took everything in Johnny not to turn around and break his nose. He should probably get out of here before Daniel biting his lip gives him a boner, anyways.</p><p>“Whatever. Let’s just go.” Johnny looked at Daniel before getting back on his motorcycle, who looked slightly shocked and a bit confused. Oh well. Maybe he’d see him at school tomorrow and actually be able to have a conversation with him. He knew he couldn’t do it in front of his friends, they’d know something was up and he’d never hear the end of it. He’d be called weak and he didn’t want to be known was weak. Not at all.</p><p>“Why can’t you just fight him?” Jimmy asked as he followed Johnny’s lead and got on his own motorcycle. He didn’t understand why Johnny, always eager to kick someone’s ass, was backing down just because of some new kid. What the hell was going on with him?</p><p>“Because I don’t want too.” Johnny replied, starting his bike and looking at the black haired teen one more time before driving off. Tommy and Jimmy were confused on why he was acting like that, Dutch was mad because his friend was being a bitch and not kicking the new kids ass, and Bobby was the only one who had payed attention to the way Johnny looked at Daniel. He knew his friend had a new crush and he was completely find with it. All he wanted was Johnny to be happy.</p><p>Daniel watched as the teens drove off on their motorcycles, his mouth was hanging wide open and his heart was beating twenty times faster because he was crushing. Crushing on the boy who was seemingly a hothead, who literally threatened to kick his ass. But he was crushing because he knew there was more than that. He knew there was someone special underneath all of that, he saw it in those beautiful cerulean eyes. In fact, Daniel was never more sure of anything in his life.</p><p>Someone cleared their throat from behind him and he realized he’d been staring after the blonde teen for the past minute. Daniel turned around and saw Ali, eyes crossed and eyebrow raised, as if she knew. The dark haired teen wasn’t sure what to say to her.</p><p>“Who was that?” He finally asked, hoping his eyes wouldn’t give away his feelings. It’s all in the eyes, and girls were much better at noticing someone’s feelings, or so he had heard.</p><p>“My ex, Johnny Lawerence. I’d stay away from him if I were you. He’s no good.” Daniel figured that he was her ex, but he wasn’t so sure he couldn’t stay away from him. He probably wouldn’t be the first to make a move, so he decided to just keep his mouth shut and admire from afar.</p><p>It wasn’t like he could do anything publicly, anyways.</p><p>“He looks pretty good to me...” Daniel murmured under his breath, the image of Johnny’s face burned into his mind.</p><p>“What?” Ali had heard what he said, but didn’t know why he was saying it. She would be disappointed if the new boy was gay, because she thought he was pretty damn cute and wanted him to ask her out. Maybe she’d have to stick with being just friends.</p><p>“What? Uh, I gotta go.” Daniel waved her off and ran back to the parking lot, where he left his bike. The main reason he was leaving was because of his curfew, but another reason was because he knew he’d probably ask Ali about Johnny all night.</p><p>~</p><p>That night as he lay in his king size bed, Johnny couldn’t help but thank about that new boy. His constant thoughts of Ali had turned to constant thoughts of this new boy. The blonde teen knew he had it bad. Somehow, he felt a little less angry and instead a little more scared, and also another feeling that he couldn’t put his finger on. Perhaps it was attraction. </p><p>Johnny had to talk to him, or he was going to go crazy.</p><p>~</p><p>The same night, Daniel stayed awake thinking about the other teen. Those golden locks, those blue eyes that hid so many secrets, and that god-like face. He knew those feelings would only grow if he got to know him, and he was hoping that he could. He was hoping that him and this guy would end up getting close. He wanted to know him.</p><p>Maybe moving here wouldn’t be so bad after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So that was that...I have the story mapped out and it’ll have twelve chapters, and I’ll try to upload everyday if I can. Have a good day guys!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2 - Cruel Summer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Welcome to the first day of school...how will things go? Good, bad, maybe a bit of both?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day was the first day of school, and Daniel was slightly nervous about it. He knew he wasn’t going to fit in with these rich California kids. They were all blonde and blue eyed, spoiled by their parents and they wouldn’t go near a Jersey kid, not even with a ten foot pole. It was going to be hard fitting in, that’s for sure.</p><p>Daniel felt like a girl arguing with himself over what to wear for a good first impression. He finally settled with a red and black polo shirt, camo pants, and shades. Californians wear shades, right? Probably.</p><p>After grabbing breakfast, Lucille drove her son to school and dropped him off. The dark haired teen waved her off and started walking into the school, looking around and seeing a world of rich blondes. However, he was keeping an eye out for a certain rich blonde, just one in particular. That kid from earlier. He didn’t even catch his name.</p><p>Daniel finally spotted him talking with his friends near their motorcycle, and it was going to be damn hard to look away. The boy was cuter than cute. The cutest thing he’d ever seen. He felt a little smile curl up on the corner of his lips, looking at the other boy really made him feel like smiling. He somehow had that effect by simply existing.</p><p>Meanwhile, Johnny was with his friends by his motorcycle, chatting away about unimportant things. The blonde was only half listening, until he felt someone staring at him. He looked up from his motorcycle and saw a kid with shades staring right at him, a small smile on his face. He immediately recognized it as the new kid from the beach. The hot one that he almost beat up.</p><p>If it were anyone else, Johnny would’ve went right up to them and punched them in the nose for staring, unless it was a girl. Then he’d probably flirt with her even if he wasn’t interested. But no, girls were the last thing on his mind right now.</p><p>All that had occupied his thoughts for the past twelve hours was the boy with those deer eyes. Those damn captivating deer eyes.</p><p>Johnny couldn’t help but smile back. It was a small smile that the other boy probably wouldn’t see from that far away, but it was still a smile.</p><p>Daniel noticed the blonde had caught him staring. Shit. He ducked his head and looked away, hiding his blush. He decided to walk away before he embarrassed himself even more.</p><p>~</p><p>The day went by slow for Daniel, since it was his first day at a new school. He had a few classes with Ali and Freddy, who didn’t sit with him since they had their own friends, and assigned seats. Ali had waved every time she saw him and Freddy nodded in his direction once, but neither had actually spoken to him since the day started. Daniel just shrugged it off, and tried to focus on whatever the hell their teacher was saying.</p><p>But he couldn’t. Because guess who else had three classes with him? The damn hot blonde boy who seemed to just cross his path wherever he went. Daniel kept sneaking glances at him whenever he thought he wasn’t looking, but it was like the boy could sense what he was doing, and always turned around and stared right back. Daniel wanted to stop but he couldn’t tear his eyes away. How could he, when someone this attractive was right in front of him?</p><p>Johnny found it amusing how much the new kid was staring at him. He knew he looked good, but come on, he thought his attitude from last night would’ve scared him off. That might’ve been what was best, but it sure as hell wasn’t what Johnny wanted to happen. He would stare at this boy all day if he could.</p><p>The bell rang for the next class, which was gym. It was the last one before the end of this slow ass day. Johnny watched Daniel pack up his stuff and leave the room, before following him, hoping that he had gym too.</p><p>Luckily, he did. Johnny decided this would be the perfect time to talk to him.</p><p>~</p><p>Gym was less of running inside of an actual gym and more of just standing around on a soccer field outside. Johnny watched as Daniel started juggling a soccer ball with his knees again, like he was trying to teach Ali the night before. Show off.</p><p>Speaking of Ali, Johnny noticed that she was staring at the doe-eyed boy and by the look in her eyes he could tell she was about to make a move. Hell no. Strike first, strike hard.</p><p>Johnny walked up to him before she could, ignoring the glare she sent him from across the field. She probably thought he was going to kick his ass, but he was going to do quite the opposite, actually.</p><p>“Hey.” The blonde teen said simply, smiling casually at the other boy. Daniel looked up at the familiar voice, and stopped juggling when he saw who it was. He looked speechless.</p><p>Daniel just couldn’t believe this angel had just came over and just started talking to him. Like nothing at all had happened last night. </p><p>“Hey?” Was all Daniel knew how to say. He thought this guy wanted to kick his ass for talking to his ex, but now he was being cool? Something’s gotta be up.</p><p>“What do you want?” Daniel wasn’t one to hold his tongue. He said what was on his mind (unless it was something romantic), and it sometimes got him in deep trouble. </p><p>“Watch it, twerp. I just wanted to talk.” There was a playful hint in Johnny’s voice when he called him a twerp, no sign of anger or jealously or anything of the sort. It almost sounded affectionate.</p><p>“Well, talk, why don’t ya?” The dark haired boy was trying to avoid staring at the blonde, knowing that if he looked he wouldn’t be able to look away. Instead he tried to focus on juggling the soccer ball again, although he could feel the lingering stare of cerulean eyes.</p><p>“Fine. I wanted to apologize for last night.” Johnny couldn’t believe the words were coming out of his mouth. He never apologized. But something was different about this boy. Johnny wanted to be nice to him, but he also wanted to punch him because he was so cute and Johnny kind of hated him for it. Only because he was giving him these thoughts, these damn thoughts that took over his mind.</p><p>“Yeah, you were a real ass.” The blonde smirked and shrugged, wanting to grab the other boys face and turn his head around to face him. He wanted to look into those Bambi eyes and get lost, no matter how scared he was and no matter how bad of an idea it was. But he wouldn’t, because he wasn’t supposed too.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. So, what’s your name?” Daniel finally looked up at him suspiciously. He wasn’t uncomfortable or anything, he felt like he had known this guy for years, even though it had just been a day, not even that. A thing he knew for sure was that this guy was a hothead, that he had learned from last night.</p><p>But one look at those pretty blue eyes, and he could tell he was being genuine and actually wanted to know his name. He had to keep it cool though, didn’t want to scare him off or show interest in him and end up getting his ass kicked, because he knew boys weren’t supposed to like boys. (That wasn’t stopping him though).</p><p>“Why do you wanna know?” The Jersey boy asked anyways. He would keep up that sassy front to avoid any suspicion of his crush. His crush that he acknowledged but was scared to admit because he feared what would happen if anyone found out.</p><p>“Come on, I’m tryna be your friend here, asshole.” Again, no sense of hate in his voice. Just playfulness. Daniel finally managed to keep eye contact with him, keeping their eyes locked instead of letting his eyes trail down to those lips that looked so soft, so kissable. The boy almost lost his voice and had to clear his throat to find it again.</p><p>“Fine. It’s Daniel. Daniel LaRusso. You?” So that was his name. Daniel. That name was going to make his heart skip a beat every time he heard it now. And Daniels voice was going to be burned into his mind. It was soft and a bit raspy due to his New Jersey accent. But that made him appealing, that he was different from every person around here. He stood out in the crowd, that’s certain.</p><p>“I’m Johnny. Johnny Lawerence. So, you’re one hell of a show off, aren’t you?” Daniel finally couldn’t hold eye contact anymore, and let his eyes work their way down to the other boys lips. He watched as they moved from every word the blonde spoke with that adoring voice of his. Daniel couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to kiss those lips. He knew the guy, who’s name he found out was Johnny (because he had been listening, despite checking him out), could see what he was doing. But he pretended not to notice, although their was a slight devilish smirk on his lips.</p><p>“You’re just jealous because I can do this and you can’t.” Daniel gestured down to where he started juggling the soccer ball again, definitely trying to show off. Johnny bit his lip as he watched those skinny legs move, his tan skin glowing in the sunlight. It was a pretty sight, and Johnny couldn’t help but wonder how the rest of his body looked.</p><p>“Wanna bet, LaRusso?” Johnny said as he took the ball, causing Daniel to look at him with a pouty expression on his baby face. It was adorable, that soft bottom lip slightly sticking out and the furrow of his eyebrows and the look in his brown eyes. Simply adorable.</p><p>“Hey!” The dark haired teen watched as the blonde started doing what he was just doing, and he was just as good. He couldn’t help but notice how many muscles Johnny had. He really wanted to see him shirtless, he would bet a million bucks that he had nice abs, just like he had nice pecs.</p><p>“And you call me a show off? Pretty boy.” Daniel wasn’t quick enough to catch himself at the last part. Johnny raised an eyebrow at the other boy, who was as red as a tomato, despite his tan skin. It was amusing.</p><p>“Aww, someone thinks I’m pretty.” Johnny tossed the ball back to Daniel, who still looked nervous.</p><p>“I-...I didn’t mean-...uh-...” He did mean it. But unfortunately, Daniel was cut off by the loud voice of the coach.</p><p>“Alright! Line up for soccer tryouts! If you don’t want to try out, just go to the other side of the field!” The cheerleaders lined up and a couple of kids went to the other side of the field, but some of the others stayed around.</p><p>“You gonna try out?” The blonde asked Daniel, and he hoped he would, because it would be nice to watch the rest of him glow in the sunlight as he ran around in shorts, which he had better wear next time. He was wearing sweatpants and a sweater now and Johnny wanted to smack him for putting that on in hot California weather. Daniel was just used to the Newark cold.</p><p>“Might as well, man. Don’t have any friends here.” Daniel muttered the last part, causing Johnny to raise an eyebrow. A cutie like him would have friends in know time, along with half of the girls in school swarming him and begging for his number. The rich boy cringed at the thought of that, he didn’t want anyone trying to date his crush- his new friend. Totally not weird, right?</p><p>“That just changed.” The dark haired teen sent a smile towards Johnny, who had his own adorable smile plastered on his face.</p><p>“Yeah? We’re friends?” Daniel asked, needing clarification. This could be the start of something wonderful. Maybe he could never act on his thoughts, but at least he could be around this boy. Talk to him, laugh with him, look at him, maybe even touch him.</p><p>“Why not? You’re alright, LaRusso. I’ll see you later.” Johnny said as the coach blew the whistle and he ran over to the other side of the field, smiling over his shoulder.</p><p>“Definitely.” Daniel smiled back, happy to have gotten closer to this boy. He turned around to face the other people who were trying out.</p><p>A few seconds later, they were all playing on the field, and Daniel was showing off. Much to the dislike of a few of Johnny’s goons, who watched him with hatred in their eyes. They saw how nice Johnny was being to him, and they didn’t want a softie in their group. He was supposed to be a Cobra, and Cobra’s weren’t soft.</p><p>“Get him, Bobby.” Dutch muttered, nudging Bobby towards Daniel. Bobby knew exactly what Dutch wanted him to do, and that was to trip Daniel. He didn’t really want too, but he would because he was sort of scared of what Dutch would do if he chickened out. So, as Daniel ran by, Bobby held out his foot and tripped the kid.</p><p>“Have a nice trip?” Jimmy asked sarcastically, and the four started laughing as Daniel glared at them and stood up. He threw a punch towards Bobby, who dodged it and tackled him to the ground. The other kids cheered as they fought like animals.</p><p>Well, more like Bobby beating Daniel up, giving him a black eye. Daniel really needed to learn how to defend himself. Maybe he could find a karate place or something. A millisecond later, Daniel felt himself being pulled off of Bobby by the coach, who looked pissed. </p><p>“None of that on this team! Get off the field!” The coach pointed back towards the school, and Daniel could feel the heat on his own face from the anger. Why wasn’t Bobby getting kicked off?</p><p>“He started it!” Daniel pointed at the four boys, each of which and a smirk on their face. The coach didn’t bat an eye and continued pointing towards the school.</p><p>“I said out of here!” The coach yelled again, and Daniel knew that he didn’t have much of a choice.</p><p>“This school sucks! It’s sucks!” Daniel yelled as he ran off, catching the attention of a few people. He soon disappeared back into the school, not exactly sure where to go.</p><p>Johnny watched the whole thing happen from the other side. He would’ve laughed at Daniel yelling about how this school sucks, but the blonde was too pissed at his friends for being assholes. He knew he could be a bit of an asshole himself, but he usually never attacked people who didn’t deserve it. And Daniel didn’t deserve it at all. The boy was sweet, he could tell.</p><p>“What the hell, man? You guys are a bunch of assholes.” The blonde said as he ran past his friends, following Daniel into the school because he needed to know if he was okay. The other boys looked at him like he had grown two heads, before shrugging and going back to playing soccer. This wasn’t over, this was no where near over.</p><p>~</p><p>Daniel had found that the hallway that led to outside was empty, thank god. He could just sit against the wall until this shitty day was over.</p><p>Johnny followed him in, quickly noticing the boy slumped against the wall. For the first time in a while, he actually felt sorry for someone. Never mind no mercy, Daniel didn’t deserve this.</p><p>“That was a nice impression you made out there.” Johnny remarked, wincing at Daniel’s black eye. Daniel looked back at him and the thought of the day being shitty instantly went away. One look at Johnny and everything was okay. That was until he remembered that the idiots who had tripped him were Johnny’s friends.</p><p>“Oh, shut it. And quit actin’ like you had nothin’ to do with it. Those were your goons.” Daniel glared at him, but instead of finding it intimidating, Johnny found it absolutely adorable, just like his pout from earlier. Again with these stupid thoughts. He could have them as long as he didn’t act on them, right? It’s not like anyone could read his mind.</p><p>“I didn’t have anything to do with what happened, LaRusso. They were just being assholes. Now come on, let’s get you to a nurse. You’ve got a black eye, and it looks bad.” Johnny grabbed the other boy’s wrist, pulling him away from the wall and dragging him to the nurses office.</p><p>“Gee, thanks. Why are you tryin’ to help me?” Daniel asked, noticing Johnny had touched him and was still touching him, even though there was so need too. It felt like a spark of electricity was running through his veins. His touch felt like magic, as cheesy and cliche as that sounded. There was no other word to describe it. If this felt good, he wondered how it would feel to kiss the other boy...no, this was not the time to think about that.</p><p>“Because I don’t want you passing out. And, I’m a pretty nice guy.” The doe-eyed teen scoffed, causing Johnny to slightly chuckle. This boy sure was something, alright. Sassy, but that’s how he liked it.</p><p>“Yeah, right. Bull.” Daniel had managed to keep up with Johnny’s walking pace, but the other teen still didn’t let go of his wrist. Daniel didn’t mind one bit.</p><p>“Watch it, I could kick your ass if I wanted too.” Johnny jokingly stated, turning his head to grin at the brunette, who rolled his eyes in response.</p><p>“You wouldn’t.” That was true, he wouldn’t. Johnny wouldn’t ever dream of it. He may joke about it a lot in this new ‘friendship’ that was blooming, but he’d never actually do anything to hurt Daniel. Never. And he’d be damned if he didn’t kill anyone who did.</p><p>“You’re right, I wouldn’t.” The blonde smiled to himself as he noticed Daniel’s wide grin, a look that could charm just about anyone. He surely had a charming effect, that’s for sure. </p><p>The boys continued walking to the nurses office, Daniel’s wrist still in Johnny’s grip.</p><p>~</p><p>The nurse was sitting in her office, a stern look on her face as usual, until Daniel came in. He flashed her one tiny little smile, and she immediately brightened up. Johnny quickly noted that he had that effect on people. He was sure the charismatic teen could make just about anyone’s day amazing.</p><p>She gestured for Daniel to sit down on the chair while she found something for his eye, and she asked Johnny to leave, but the teen insisted on staying. The nurse just rolled her eyes and went to look for an ice pack.</p><p>“Just keep this ice pack on it for now, apply it for about ten minutes everyday and it should go away in no time. I’ll be right back, sweetie.” Johnny smiled as she walked out the door, knowing she probably wouldn’t come back before the end of the day bell ringed and he could be alone with Daniel.</p><p>“You gonna be okay?” The blonde knew it was just a black eye, but he already hated seeing the other teen hurt. He had never felt so close to anyone before, especially someone he had only known for a day. It felt like some classic romance movie. But it wasn’t, they were just friends and would always be just friends, right?</p><p>At least that’s what Johnny was trying to convince himself. He couldn’t have Daniel. He was a boy and again, it was wrong to like another boy. A little flirting wouldn’t hurt, but he couldn’t get too close, because if he did then he wouldn’t be able to resist kissing him. And man, would that start up a series of problems that wouldn’t end well in the slightest.</p><p>“I guess so. Thanks for taking me hear. You aren’t so bad.” Daniel sighed, not happy about getting beat up on his first day. The only good thing about coming here was Johnny. Just Johnny.</p><p>“I know, I’m amazing.” Yeah, the only good thing was this asshole, no matter how cocky he could be. Daniel halfway wanted to smack that smirk off his face, but also wanted to keep that picture in his mind. He sure was fucking cute.</p><p>“Don’t get cocky.” Daniel warned, noticing Johnny had edged a bit closer. A little closer wouldn’t hurt. Just not too close. Never too close. He was never going to let his guard down and was never going to admit that he had feelings for another boy. What would his friends think if they knew what he was thinking? No one can ever know. It would be hell keeping his crush a secret, but he could do it. He wasn’t weak. He wasn’t a pussy.</p><p>“Oh yeah? I wasn’t the one showing off my soccer skills.” Johnny winked, causing Daniel’s heart to skip a beat. The blonde was simply irresistible.</p><p>“Screw you, man.” Daniel muttered, freezing up as Johnny got really close. Johnny was cursing himself on the inside for letting himself get closer. Instead of going for his lips, he leaned his head over Daniel’s shoulder, getting close to his ear instead.</p><p>“Sure you would.” Johnny whispered, sending shivers down Daniel’s spine. The blonde quickly moved away, not wanting to lose control and end up pinning the other boy against the wall and kissing him. No letting your guard down. That was showing weakness. And Cobra’s aren’t weak.</p><p>Johnny was pretty sure having feelings like this, for someone like Daniel was weakness. Daniel could make Johnny break down every wall he had up without even trying. He just wouldn’t show it, nor admit it.</p><p>“I-...” Daniel was speechless and his lips were slightly parted. They were all Johnny could stare at. He knew he had to get out of here before he went too far.</p><p>“See you tomorrow, LaRusso.” The cerulean-eyed boy backed up and walked out of the door, smirking over his shoulder.</p><p>“See ya, blondie...” Daniel sighed and smiled at the thought of the events of today. Getting a black eye didn’t seem so bad when he thought about Johnny. He knew this was the start of something. A friendship, maybe more than that, if it was possible. Time would tell.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So the boys have finally officially met and tension just keeps growing! I hope you guys liked this chapter, chapter 3 will be uploaded tomorrow around the same time! Have a good day ppl!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3 - He’s Definitely Hot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A week has passed...the chemistry keeps getting stronger...how strong can it get without going overboard?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I suck at summaries smh</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>About a week had passed since Daniel and Johnny had officially become ‘friends’. It’s been MOSTLY uneventful, although Daniel couldn’t help but stare at his god-like face whenever he got the chance. And little did he know, Johnny felt the exact same way. Daniel was simply captivating.</p><p>Everything was almost perfect. Almost.</p><p>The only problem was Johnny’s so-called friends. Daniel felt like they picked on him every chance they got, and he was getting real sick of it. He didn’t just sit there and take it, he mouthed off too, and he was lucky he didn’t get his ass kicked. He knew it was coming soon enough, though.</p><p>Johnny had tried to convince his friends to stay away from Daniel, but every time he did they accused him of having a ‘little crush’. Needless to say they got slapped upside the head every time they said that. The blonde knew he couldn’t keep them away from Daniel forever, no matter how much he wanted too.</p><p>At least him and Daniel were getting closer. That’s all they wanted to do. Daniel couldn’t help but smile every time he thought of Johnny, picturing that movie star smile, it was like it was glued inside of his mind. The other boy was scared, scared to get close to Daniel because he was afraid that he was going to ruin it. Ruin it like he ruined everything else that had made him happy.</p><p>Daniel was all Johnny could think about as he walked into the dojo, rolling his eyes at the other boys who were goofing off until Kreese could arrive and shut that shit down. Fear does not exist in this dojo, neither does goofing around.</p><p>“What’s up with you, man? You’ve been all starstruck lately.” Bobby teased, throwing an arm around Johnny’s shoulders and giving him a knowing look. Johnny rolled his eyes and if it had been any of the other guys, he would yank their arm right out of the socket. Bobby was lucky, he just had good intentions.</p><p>“Aww, little Johnny’s got himself a crush!” Dutch added as he stepped in front of them, an annoying little smirk on his face. Both teens knew what was coming next.</p><p>“Don’t even say it.” Johnny warned. Everyone here knew he could kick Dutch’s ass. And he’d kick it twice if he brought Daniel into this.</p><p>“Oh yeah, he has a crush on Danielle!” Dutch didn’t take the warning and said it anyways. Danielle was a new one. It pissed Johnny off how these guys hated him for no reason. And he wasn’t going to hear it.</p><p>“I swear to god Dutch, I will kill y-“ The blonde teen almost stepped forward, ready to knock Dutch’s teen straight, but he was interrupted by a loud, strict voice.</p><p>“Is there a problem here?” The three boys looked up and saw Kreese standing at the doorway to his office, arms crossed with his usual expression on his face. The boys immediately straightened up. Normally there would be a chance that Kreese would encourage the fight, but there was a few months until the tournament and he didn’t want any problems. Not today, at least.</p><p>“No sensei!” The boys shouted in unison. Johnny was really hoping Kreese didn’t overhear the part about his ‘little crush’. He didn’t feel like being lectured today. He was also hoping that Kreese wouldn’t figure out that he’s distracted, because that wouldn’t end well.</p><p>Thank god he couldn’t read minds. All Johnny could think about was Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. That thick dark hair, those mesmerizing deer eyes, that tan skin that glistened in the-</p><p>“That’s what I thought. Now go change into your gis. We don’t have time for these games.” Johnny’s thoughts were interrupted once more, but he knew they’d come back not a second later. This was driving him crazy.</p><p>~</p><p>In the meantime, Daniel was getting sick and tired of Dutch and the other goons. He wasn’t trying to get his ass kicked again, so he decided to actually try to find a dojo so he could learn how to kick ass right back.</p><p>Luckily for him, he saw a sign that said ‘karate’ right next to the restaurant his mom worked at. How come he had never noticed that before? Oh yeah, probably because every time he walked here after school he was only thinking of one thing. Johnny.</p><p>The teen shook his head and got his moms attention from the window, gesturing to where he was going. She just nodded and went back to work, and Daniel took off towards the dojo.</p><p>He opened the door, and they were already standing around and listening to whatever the hell their sensei was saying. There were a few other kids listening in, so Daniel just sat with them.</p><p>“Fear does not exist in this dojo, does it?”</p><p>“No sensei!”</p><p>“Pain does not exist in this dojo, does it?”</p><p>“No sensei!”</p><p>“Defeat does not exist in this dojo, does it?”</p><p>“No sensei!”</p><p>What an inspiring speech, Daniel thought. Not really. This place looked tough. The sensei here seemed scary, that’s for sure. The guy said a bunch of other things that were a little questionable, but Daniel just shrugged it off. He wasn’t really listening and was instead waiting for them to start doing moves. He was also thinking about Johnny, which wasn’t new. Thinking about him definitely made it hard to pay attention to anything else. The boy hadn’t left his mind since the day they met. </p><p>“Mr. Lawrence.” Daniel perked up at that, because that was Johnny’s last name. For a second the dark haired teen thought he was just hearing things because again, Johnny was constantly on his mind. That was until he heard a familiar voice.</p><p>“Yes, sensei.” The doe-eyed boy smiled to himself as he heard the voice, it sounded exactly like Johnny’s. Wait, maybe it was Johnny.</p><p>“Warm them up.” Daniel watched as someone walked towards the front of the room. He couldn’t see who it was yet. He couldn’t see that it was Johnny.</p><p>“Fighting positions. Jab punch.” That damn voice again. The boys all slowly bowed down, and Daniel’s brown eyes widened when he saw that the owner of the voice was in fact, Johnny. The other teen noticed him too, almost instantly, and from all the way across the room.</p><p>Johnny didn’t know how, he just felt Daniel’s presence there (it was like a sixth sense) and decided to look up to see if he was right. And he was. The stern look on his face melted into a smile (or a smirk). He forgot that he was supposed to be leading warm-ups and instead was staring at the dark haired boy. And damn, did he look good. Johnny couldn’t wipe that devilish/flirtatious smirk off of his face.</p><p>Daniel playfully rolled his eyes at the look on Johnny’s face. He couldn’t describe it, but it was hot. Daniel licked his lips in an absent-minded way, but to Johnny, it was seductive. He was so damn attractive and it wasn’t fair. Johnny had never wanted anything more in his life. He’s only known this boy for a week and he already feels like it’s been years and he feels like he knows everything but he just wants to know more. He just wants him. He just wants Daniel.</p><p>The blonde cursed to himself as he noticed the other kids in front of him, kids who he was supposed to be leading, looking at him questionably. Shit. They couldn’t know what he was looking at. Much to his dismay, he had to pry his eyes away from Daniel, no matter how distracting he may be.</p><p>“Ready.” Johnny still had that smile on his face as he stood up again. Daniel was perfect. He shouldn’t be somewhere like this place. Johnny didn’t want Daniel to join the dojo, only because he didn’t want him to be torn down by Kreese and pushed around by the other boys. It was still nice to see him outside of school, though. He always had that adorable look on his face, one that could make anyone smile in a millisecond.</p><p>Daniel watched as Johnny stood back up, trying to burn his smile into his mind. He then realized if Johnny was here, his goons would probably be here too. He looked and saw Dutch and Bobby, who didn’t seem to notice his presence. Seeing those two was enough to get him out of there.</p><p>With the picture of Johnny’s smile permanently glued inside his head, Daniel turned around and left, looking back over his shoulder one more time. The smile was now replaced with a more serious look as the teen punched the air. Daniel just thought it was because he was supposed to be leading warm-ups.</p><p>That wasn’t the case. The smile was gone because Daniel was leaving. He knew it was best for him, but still. Now he had nothing pretty to stare at. Daniel could make him happy just by being in the same room as him.</p><p>~</p><p>Daniel walked back into Oriental Garden, the restaurant his mom worked at. She smiled at him and led him to a table by the window, the table she was cleaning earlier. Lucille sat across from her son, immediately knowing something was on his mind...or someone.</p><p>“What’s with the karate place?” Lucille asked curiously. She was smart enough to know that Daniel didn’t get a black eye from falling. It was barely noticeable now, but it still angered her that someone had hurt her baby. She was all for him learning karate if it prevented it from happening again.</p><p>“Nothin’, ma. It’s just not for me.” The teen shrugged. Lucille knew there was more than that, and she would find out what it was, eventually.</p><p>“Good. We couldn’t afford it anyway!” She joked, and Daniel slightly smiled before going back to the face he usually made when he was deep in thought. He’s got a crush, Lucille instantly thought.</p><p>“And the girl situation?” Daniel perked up at that, like she had caught him off guard. It wasn’t exactly a girl who was occupying all of his thoughts lately.</p><p>“Uh...well...” He didn’t know whether he should tell her or not. What if she hated him? Daniel looked at her with those deer eyes, knowing she could sense the nervousness in them with her motherly instincts. Lucille said nothing, taking a second to register what that look meant, before giving a knowing smile. It didn’t matter at all.</p><p>“Boy situation?” Daniel’s heart nearly stopped and he felt heat in his cheeks. It seemed like his mother knew everything.</p><p>“Ma!” Lucille chuckled as Daniel looked to the ground, and from his embarrassment she knew that she was right, her son did have a crush on a boy. She didn’t care, even though it wouldn’t be easy liking the same sex in the current time period they were in, she was hoping he knew the risks and would be able to keep this a secret. She wanted him to be happy here, that was the point of moving. Whatever made him happy worked for her.</p><p>“What? I’m just saying, I don’t care if it’s a boy, as long as you’re happy.” The dark haired boy sighed in relief at his moms words. She still loved him the same. He could be honest with her. He didn’t want to tell her every single detail about Johnny, but he would get into the basics.</p><p>“Thanks, ma. The situation is...okay.” Daniel replied nervously.</p><p>“Just okay? To me it feels like the whole world turned blonde! You got your eye on anybody?” The look on his face gave the answer away once more. He had found somebody. Lucille couldn’t help the wide smile that formed on her face.</p><p>“Oh? Cute?” She wanted to know everything about this boy. At the word cute, Daniel immediately pictured Johnny and his adorable smile. He was cuter than cute. That boy was perfect.</p><p>“Not cute. He’s beyond cute.” Daniel smiled to himself as he thought about every detail of Johnny. His wavy blonde hair, bangs almost falling onto the lids of his bright cerulean eyes, the way he would smile at him, god, Daniel had it bad. He would give the boy the entire world if he could.</p><p>“But he’s blonde, right?” Lucille asked. Daniel chuckled lightly, he always had a thing for blondes. And now because of Johnny, he liked blonde hair even more.</p><p>“He’s got blonde hair, yeah.”</p><p>“Is he as attractive as Judy?” The Jersey boy had already forgotten about Judy. She was a thing of the past. Sure she was pretty, but Johnny was something else. Something perfect.</p><p>“He buries Judy in a second.” He buries anyone in a second, Daniel thought to himself. He could go on for hours about how he had never met anyone as attractive as Johnny Lawerence.</p><p>“He buries Judy? Tell me about it later, I love you! Careful how you ride home!” Lucille had ignored her co-workers calling her so she could hear about Daniel’s new crush, but she didn’t want to lose her job so she had to go, leaving her son in a daze.</p><p>A daze of thinking about golden locks and cerulean eyes and tight muscles.</p><p>“He’s got an excellent smile. He’s really smart. I’d say he’s handsome. I think he’s beautiful. I think he’s something else. He’s hot. Definitely hot.” Daniel went on, talking to no one in particular, thinking out loud.</p><p>He didn’t realize that Johnny had walked up to the window and was watching him talk to himself like a weirdo. The blonde playfully rolled his eyes and walked into the restaurant. He didn’t hear what Daniel was talking about, but he sure wanted to know.</p><p>“Talking to yourself, LaRusso?” Johnny smirked as he slid into the seat in front of Daniel, who jumped at the sound of his voice. His heart was beating three-hundred miles per minute because he was worried that Johnny had overheard what he said. There was no way that the other boy knew he was talking about him, but he didn’t want to get flustered and admit it.</p><p>“How much did you hear?” Daniel asked nervously, biting his lip. Fuck. Johnny almost loses it every time he does that. It’s so hot and all he can think is how much he wanted to be the one biting that lip instead.</p><p>“Nothing, I was just looking at you talking to yourself like a crazy person through the window.” The blonde teased, earning an eye-roll as a response.</p><p>“Stalker.”</p><p>“Hey, at least I’m not a weirdo.”</p><p>“What are you doing here? Your karate lesson over?” Johnny had almost forgotten about that. He really hoped that Daniel wasn’t planning on joining the dojo. That wouldn’t end well. It would be really nice to train with him (even though if they sparred, he’d probably end up getting hard and having to get Daniel off him ASAP), but it couldn’t happen. Kreese being the main reason, even Johnny knew the man he idolized could cause several problems. He didn’t want Daniel to have to deal with the things that he had to deal with. Never mind having to deal with Dutch and the others. They’d take every chance they got to humiliate him.</p><p>Johnny realized he had been lost in thought for the past minute, and Daniel was still staring at him with those pretty brown eyes and waiting for him to answer.</p><p>“Yeah, it is. Look man, I just wanted to tell you, stay away from Cobra Kai. It’s not a good place for someone like you and I don’t want you getting caught up with it, okay?” Daniel looked confused and a little disappointed. Johnny hated seeing him anything but happy, but he wasn’t going to put him in harms way.</p><p>“Uh...okay? Where am I supposed to learn karate?” The dark haired boy still wanted to know how to defend himself. Next time one of those idiots came at him, he’d take them down.</p><p>“I don’t know, just-...just not at my dojo, okay?” Johnny sighed, looking down. When he looked back at Daniel, he saw flash of hurt in his eyes. The blonde winced once he saw it, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt him.</p><p>“You don’t want me there?” Daniel asked sadly, and Johnny looked taken aback. It wasn’t that at all. If it weren’t for Kreese and Dutch and the others, Johnny would have no problem with it. But it wasn’t like they could just disappear. Sometimes you have to make the right choice, even if you hate it.</p><p>“It’s not that! It’s just not the place for you, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt. I’m just trying to protect you.” Johnny admitted, his voice a bit shaky. It was true, he’d do just about anything to protect him. He felt like he finally found something that was worth it. And if he felt like this now, imagine how he would feel as time passed and he got to know Daniel even more.</p><p>Daniel wanted to faint, because that was so damn sweet and he just wanted to kiss him, if only that was possible. But he couldn’t, so instead he resorted to his usual stubbornness. </p><p>“I don’t need you to protect me. But thanks.” The blue-eyed teen rolled his eyes at the other boy’s stubbornness. He was lucky he was so cute and charming. If it were anyone but him, Johnny would’ve found that stubbornness annoying.</p><p>“Don’t mention it, LaRusso. I just don’t want you to turn out like me and the other guys. Assholes.” Johnny shrugged, thinking about how he used to be an innocent little kid, but how that changed when his mom married Sid and he found Cobra Kai, and Kreese found a way to use his anger for the worst. Johnny didn’t want to be like that, he didn’t want to be the guy with a bad temper. Not anymore. He just wanted to enjoy his fucking life.</p><p>Daniel wanted to slap him for talking about himself like that. Johnny was nothing less than perfect. To others, he might seem like a bully, but to Daniel, he was a real sweetheart.</p><p>“You’re not an asshole. I think you’re the opposite, actually.” The brown-eyed teen reached over and gently brushed his hand over Johnny’s. He realized what a risk that was, and that he might end up getting slapped, but he didn’t. The other teen didn’t make a single move.</p><p>Johnny tensed up at first, but quickly relaxed. Touching Daniel sent shivers down his spine and electricity through his veins.</p><p>Neither one of them spoke for a minute. They just sat there looking into each other’s eyes, their hands gently brushing together. Both thought the others hands were soft, and smooth, and they didn’t want to let go any time soon. They only wanted to be closer.</p><p>Daniel almost interlocked their fingers, but Johnny realized that they were practically holding hands in a public place. Johnny quickly retracted his hand, putting it into his pocket and awkwardly looking around. The other teen frowned at the loss of contact, but he understood. That didn’t make it any less hard, though.</p><p>“I’m trying because for some reason, I don’t want to be like them anymore, I-...I gotta go, okay?” Once again, Johnny had to get out of here. He had to get out before he did and said half the things he wanted too. He desperately wanted to kiss the other boy, hold him, touch every part of his body-...yeah, he had to leave. Now. Just looking at Daniel’s soft baby face was driving him crazy because he knew he couldn’t have him.</p><p>“Okay. It was nice seeing you.” Daniel was slightly confused because he had no idea how violent Cobra Kai could be. He decided to just trust Johnny and listen him, he’d learn how to do karate else where.</p><p>“I’m sure it was. It was nice seeing you too. Later.” Johnny winked at Daniel before walking out of the restaurant. Daniel watched him leave and signed, feeling a small emptiness without him. He wondered just how much longer it would be until he was head over heels in love with the blonde boy.</p><p>Johnny didn’t like leaving either. He wanted to stay and talk some more, but he had to leave. The teen decided he’d have to learn how to control his feelings around Daniel, and decided the punching bag he had in his room would be a good way to relieve this tension. He couldn’t keep this up for long. The boy was already making him not want to be an asshole anymore. He made him want things that were impossible. Johnny knew the best solution would be to just walk away from Daniel forever and ignore him, that way he’d be safe from the other Cobras and Johnny wouldn’t be tempted to tell him (and show him) his feelings. But he couldn’t. Not yet. He only wanted to get closer. How close was too close?</p><p>Daniel watched as Johnny’s figure disappeared down the street, before turning back around and sighing happily, thoughts of him filling his head once more. </p><p>“Was that him?” He hadn’t noticed his mom had saw the interaction, and was ready to ask him a million questions. Daniel’s face immediately heated up again.</p><p>“Ma!” The teen shouted, hiding his face. Lucille laughed and went back to work, leaving Daniel alone to continue to pine after the other boy.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Things will get even better as time goes on ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4 - Growing Desire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A month later, Daniel still has mixed feelings about California. It has some perks, like Johnny. And-...actually, just Johnny.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>fuckinghellsummariessuck</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Daniel felt crazy from the many, MANY mixed feelings he had about Los Angeles. He’s been here for a little over a month and in just a few days it would be Halloween, but he still wasn’t completely sure how he felt about it this place.</p><p>It had its perks, like Johnny-...well, mostly Johnny. </p><p>The two had only grown closer over the few weeks, and Daniel considered Johnny his best friend. His best friend that he had a huge secret crush on. They knew all the basic things about each other, and had even got into some of the deep things. Well, a few deep things at least, mainly on Daniel’s side. For example, him telling Johnny about when his dad died. Johnny hadn’t told him anything too serious, Daniel knew he still had his guard up. Maybe he could bring it down soon, because Johnny could trust him. Daniel would never do a single thing to hurt him.</p><p>Johnny made him happy. In fact, he was the main thing keeping him happy here. Yeah, he had a few friends, including his apartments’s maintenance worker, Mr. Miyagi, who had taught him how to trim these little trees-...Bonsai. He was a pretty cool guy, but you know, Johnny was the main reason he liked this place, that boy was an angel.</p><p>But he also hated this place because of fucking Dutch and those other idiots. They pushed him off a hill while he was riding his bike home last night. And now his face was bruised up. Again. And he had to go to school like that.</p><p>He wondered how Johnny would react. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad.</p><p>~</p><p>The day after the hill incident, Daniel walked into school, not being able to hide the bruises on his face. He was really hoping people wouldn’t put much thought into it. The teen walked into his first class, shop, a class he had with Johnny. Ali was in there too, but he mainly spent time with Johnny, even though he knew the girl despised the fact that they were friends, simply because she didn’t like Johnny. But Daniel got along with Ali alright, and only thought of her as a friend, but he knew she wanted more. She was out of luck, though. Daniel only had eyes for Johnny, despite the fact his feelings may go unreturned. (Which was not the case).</p><p>Daniel instantly spotted Johnny, who had his back turned away from the door and was standing around doing basically nothing, except listening to music through his walkman. The guy was obsessed with rock bands. Perhaps he would be too caught up in the music to notice that Daniel’s face was bruised.</p><p>Like that was going to happen. Johnny noticed every single detail about him, because he simply couldn’t keep his eyes off of him. He could look and do his best not to touch him too much (he had gotten better at keeping his cool, although touching Daniel still set his heart on fire), and he would look as much as he could. That baby face was too hard to resist looking at, and combined with that thick dark hair and those Bambi eyes, the boy was intoxicating.</p><p>And that’s why he immediately noticed something was wrong when Daniel appeared next to him but didn’t look in his direction, or even say hi. Johnny took off his headphones and started at the fellow teen, who was staring into space.</p><p>“Hey, look at me.” The blonde fought the urge to grab Daniel’s face and turn him around, instead just placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Spending time with Daniel has made him less aggressive, and he learned how to be patient with him. He was never anything other than a sweetheart. Only people he trusted got to see that side of him, and Johnny sure as hell trusted Daniel.</p><p>And Daniel trusted him right back. He didn’t like hiding things from Johnny. It was hard enough hiding his feelings. That’s why the doe-eyed teen turned around, gulping nervously as the other boy gasped in shock at his beaten appearance.</p><p>“LaRusso! What the hell happened?” Johnny’s voice was full of anger and concern. He knew this wasn’t an accident. He knew Dutch was probably behind this, and if Dutch was doing it, he was putting the others up to no good as well.</p><p>“Nothin’, I just fell off my bike.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, Daniel thought as he looked away again, it was just slightly behind the truth. Johnny wasn’t having that. He gently touched the side of Daniel’s face, being careful not to hurt the bruises, and turned his head around to face him.</p><p>“Tell me what really happened.” Daniel sighed, knowing there was no way out of this. Johnny retracted his hand from Daniel’s face, instead placing it on his shoulder again to make it look less...weird.</p><p>“Fine. Your friends pushed me down a hill. Don’t be mad.” </p><p>“They did WHAT?” Johnny yelled, ready to march out of the classroom and kill Dutch for doing that. He didn’t even have to ask, he knew that Dutch was the one who started it, he was the bad one. Those boys better thank the stars that they’re not in this class with Johnny.</p><p>“Mr. Lawerence! Inside voices!” The blue-eyed boy rolled his eyes at the teacher, turning back to face Daniel, who tensed at the look in his eyes. He looked pissed, to say the least.</p><p>“I’m gonna kill him.” Johnny clenched his fists and grinded his teeth together, desperately wanting to punch something. Preferably Dutch.</p><p>“No, you don’t have to do that, it’ll only make things worse, man!” Daniel placed both of his hands on both of Johnny’s fists, causing the other teen to calm down (a little) and unclench them, but he was still mad.</p><p>“I don’t like seeing you hurt. I want them to leave you alone. You don’t deserve this, Danny...” Johnny moved one hand back up to Daniel’s face, palm gently caressing over the bruise. He hated seeing Daniel in any type of pain at all.</p><p>Daniel blushed at the nickname. No one ever called him that. But he liked it, because Johnny was the one doing it. And along with the other stuff he said, damn. He was so sweet. Daniel had no idea how to reply.</p><p>“Hey, I’ll be okay.” Was all the dark haired teen managed to say.</p><p>“I’m still gonna talk to them. I’m not gonna let them touch you ever again.” Daniel knew there was no stopping him. He didn’t realize just how much Johnny actually cared about him, he seriously underestimated the other boy’s feelings. But Johnny would do just about anything to protect him. Daniel had changed him for the better, had turned his cold heart back into one full of warmth.</p><p>“My hero.” Daniel teased, and Johnny ruffled his hair with his other hand in return. It was so soft. Johnny felt like he couldn’t keep his hands off Daniel, but he was going to have too. He had a crush, he’d admit that much, but only to himself. Not out loud. Some things were better left unsaid.</p><p>“Whatever, LaRusso.” Johnny replied playfully, removing his hand from Daniel’s cheek and the other from his hair, turning to whatever assignment they should’ve been working on for the past five minutes. However, his main focus was what he was going to do to Dutch.</p><p>~</p><p>Gym came around, and Johnny had walked outside to where everyone else was, searching the field for his so-called friends. He usually alternated between hanging out with Daniel and them, but more often than not he picked to hang out with Daniel. He knew the other boys despised it, but tough shit.</p><p>Johnny finally spotted them near the bleachers, and stormed up to them, ready to break Dutch’s nose.</p><p>“Hey man, what’s u-“ Tommy started to say, being cut off by the sight of Johnny nailing Dutch right in the nose. He looked at the other two boys, Bobby and Jimmy, one of which had an idea of what this was about.</p><p>“Ow! What was that for, you dick!” Dutch snapped, taking everything in him not to punch Johnny right back. He wouldn’t appreciate getting his ass kicked. Not today.</p><p>“For pushing LaRusso off a hill! Why can’t you just leave him alone, huh?” Johnny shoved him backwards, ready to hit him again. He would really take no mercy to the extreme when it came to someone messing with Daniel. No one touches him.</p><p>“Yeah, and what’s it to you?” Dutch shoved him in return. He didn’t understand why Johnny gave the LaRusso kid the time of day. He was a loser, and Cobra’s don’t hang out with losers.</p><p>“He didn’t do anything to you! Stay away from him!” The other three boys awkwardly listened as Johnny proceeded to call Dutch every name under the sun. Dutch looked more provoked by the second, and Bobby prepared himself to get ready to break up a fight.</p><p>“I’ll do whatever I want! He’s turning you into a pussy!” Johnny rolled his eyes at what Dutch said. If being actually happy for the first time in a while meant being a pussy, then fuck it. It was no one’s business who Johnny spent time with. Dutch could learn to deal with it or just fuck off, because Daniel wasn’t going anywhere.</p><p>“Whatever. Touch him again and I’ll do more than punch you.” The only thing preventing Johnny from going all out on Dutch was the fact that he was his friend since middle school, but the other reason, the more important one, was because he knew Daniel wouldn’t like it. The deer-like boy was sometimes too nice for his own good.</p><p>Johnny started to walk away, ignoring the insults that Dutch was throwing at him from behind. Bobby followed him and stopped him a few feet from where there other boys were.</p><p>“You like that LaRusso kid, don’t you?” Bobby asked, no touch of anger or hatred in his voice. It sounded almost playful, as if he knew how Johnny felt. Johnny knew if anyone was going to be okay with his feelings towards Daniel, it would be him.</p><p>He still wasn’t going to admit it to anyone but himself, though.</p><p>“None of your business, Bobby.” He said before continuing to walk off, and he wasn’t even looking, but he could see Bobby grinning and shaking his head.</p><p>~</p><p>Later that day, Johnny found Daniel outside of the school, sitting on a bench near his bike. The blonde assumed he was waiting for him, which was cute. Everything about Daniel was cute. Johnny walked up to him with a triumphant smirk on his face, getting yet another daily eye-roll from the dark haired boy.</p><p>“Let me guess. You kicked his ass?” Daniel asked, crossing his arms and looking up at his crush. Johnny sat down next to him, stretching his arms out across the rim of the bench. It was just a casual action, no one would think anything of it. He really just wanted to put his arm around Daniel and have the other boy close, but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to freak him out.</p><p>“Nope, I just punched him.” Johnny admitted, jokingly of course.</p><p>“Well uh, thanks, man.” Daniel appreciated Johnny looking out for him. It was another thing that made him fall for him even more.</p><p>“It means a lot that you try to look out for me.” Daniel inched closer to Johnny, leaving only an inch of space between them. The blonde was nervous at the sudden closeness, but he was also happy that Daniel actually wanted to be close to him. (He was too dense to realize why, though).</p><p>“I’d do anything for you. I mean-...uh-...” That wasn’t supposed to sound so ‘romantic’, but it did. Johnny was about to take it back, until he saw the dark blush creep up on Daniel’s face. It was like Johnny knew the right things to say to make his heart burst.</p><p>They sat in comfortable silence for the next few minutes, just enjoying each other’s company. All Johnny could think about was Daniel, and all Daniel could think about was Johnny. They were both falling hard and fast, but were either about to admit it? No. Fear stood in the way. Johnny knew fear was stupid, that’s what he was taught in Cobra Kai, but this was one situation he’d make an exception for.</p><p>“Hey man, you wanna come over and spend the night?” Daniel asked out of no where. The idea randomly popped in his mind. The thought of spending an entire night with Johnny, talking and laughing together, maybe even sleeping in the same bed, made him tingle with excitement.</p><p>“You trying to seduce me, LaRusso?” The blonde teased, causing Daniel to bury his face in his hands.</p><p>“No! I uh-...forget I said anything-“ Seducing him might be an idea in the future, not now, but someday. If he ever got the courage to make an actual move.</p><p>“Of course I’ll come over.” Johnny cut him off, there was no way he was turning down the opportunity to spend time with Daniel. No way in hell.</p><p>~</p><p>After a long, dragged-out day of school, the boys could finally get the hell out of there and head to Daniel’s place. Johnny drove the Firebird that day, and that’s how they got there. Daniel was used to the rundown car his mom had, the car that they had to push down the street to get it to work, but this car was nice, it even had a leather interior. Johnny was kind of picky about what CD they played, but they finally came to an agreement. They rode in comfortable silence until they reached Reseda.</p><p>Daniel’s apartment was small, but it wasn’t bad. As they walked through the entrance, Daniel started talking about when he first came here, you know, when he kicked the entrance gate and knocked Freddy on his ass. Johnny found that hilarious. And he found the sight of the ‘pool’ even more amusing. Daniel rolled his eyes and unlocked the door to his apartment, dragging Johnny inside.</p><p>“So this is my home. It’s nothin’ fancy, but it’s livable.” The blonde teen looked around, looking at every little detail. It looked comfortable, for a lack of better words.</p><p>“It isn’t bad, LaRusso.” Johnny said, noticing pictures of Daniel as a little kid on the walls. He smiled to himself and looked at the current Daniel in front of him. He still had that baby face and those wide brown deer eyes.</p><p>“Probably nothin’ compared to the mansion you live in.” Daniel joked, gesturing Johnny to follow him down the hallway, to his room. Johnny rolled his eyes but followed him anyways, staring at the view he got from behind.</p><p>“The mansions alright, just never really felt like home.” Johnny replied truthfully. Daniel sent him a questioning look from over his shoulder, but didn’t say anything. He figured Johnny would tell him more about his home life when he was ready.</p><p>The two teens entered Daniel’s bedroom, and after only two minutes they were already joking around and laughing loud enough that the entire neighborhood probably heard them. Lucille had heard laughter from her room, and was about to go tell Daniel to keep it down. She was surprised to see another boy in there with him, a blonde. She wondered if it was the boy that Daniel constantly talked about, the one from the restaurant that she didn’t really get to get a good look at.</p><p>“Oh, I didn’t know you had a friend over! Hi there, I’m Daniel’s mother.” The boys looked up at the doorway, seeing Lucille standing there, arms crossed and staring at them with an amused expression on her face.</p><p>“Nice to meet you, Mrs. LaRusso. I’m Johnny.” Daniel nearly scoffed at the politeness. Johnny was always sucking up to adults, and the dark haired boy knew that he would win his mother over in no time.</p><p>“Oh! So you’re the boy that Daniel keeps talking about!” Both teens realized what she just said, and had completely different reactions. Johnny had a huge grin on his face, and Daniel was looking down and he was bright red.</p><p>“Does he?” Johnny replied teasingly, looking back at the other teen. Daniel wanted to smack that smirk off his face. This was embarrassing. Daniel was internally screaming, he was scared that his mom would accidentally reveal his crush to the other boy.</p><p>“Ma! I don’t talk about him all the time!” Daniel denied, causing Johnny to laugh at him. The blonde was loving this. Daniel being embarrassed was cute, the blush on that baby face was just adorable. Honestly, Daniel was always cute, adorable, hot, all of that. Johnny just assumed Daniel talked about him a lot because they were practically best friends, or his mom was over-exaggerating. He didn’t want to give himself false hope that it was any other reason (the reason he wanted it to be, even though it could never work).</p><p>“Yes you do. You-“ Lucille started to say, but was cut off by Daniel pushing past her and walking down the hall.</p><p>“Okay! When’s dinner supposed to be ready, ma?” Johnny smirked at the nervousness in his voice. Fucking adorable.</p><p>“Five minutes. Come, you boys can help me set the table.” Lucille smiled at Johnny, gesturing for him to follow her down the hall. Oh, this was going to be fun.</p><p>~</p><p>Dinner was over, and the boys were back in Daniel’s room. Daniel was glad he had worked up the courage to ask Johnny to spend the night. Now he was a little nervous though, because of what happened at dinner, when Lucille started telling Johnny a million embarrassing stories about Daniel. And again, mentioning how often he was talked about around here.</p><p>“Damn LaRusso, I didn’t know you liked me so much.” Johnny said later that night as they were about to change into their sleepwear.</p><p>“Shut it.” Daniel glared at the blonde from across the room, still embarrassed from earlier. He was hoping Johnny didn’t catch on that Daniel had a huge crush on him.</p><p>“Nope. You’re the one who talks about me all the time.” In reality, Johnny didn’t think it was possible that Daniel had a crush on him, the thought crossed his mind once or twice today, but he quickly got rid of it. There was no way someone as perfect as Daniel would want to be with someone like him. He assumed that Daniel liked Ali, although girls never really came up into their conversation. (Besides when Daniel asked why him and Ali broke up, and Johnny told him the truth, that he forgot her birthday).</p><p>“I do not!” The deer-eyed boy shouted back, hiding his face from Johnny’s view. He sure was an awful liar. Johnny just laughed at him, deciding to keep up the teasing.</p><p>“You do so. Admit it, you love me.” The blonde laughed even harder when things started falling over on the other side of the room, where Daniel was trying to get himself together. He wasn’t one-hundred percent sure if he was in love with Johnny, but he did like him, a lot. What wasn’t there to like?</p><p>“D-do not!” Daniel denied once more, walking over to the other boy and playfully punching him in the arm.</p><p>“Sure. Now where am I supposed to sleep?” Neither one of them had put much thought into that, besides Daniel imagining it earlier. They both knew where they wanted to sleep, they just thought the other wouldn’t be okay with it at all.</p><p>“I have a sleeping bag, or...” Daniel was the first to speak, trailing off, hoping Johnny would get what he was saying. God knows he was too scared to suggest it himself.</p><p>“Or what? I could sleep in the bed with you?” Johnny asked jokingly, and was a little shocked when Daniel nodded his head in response. Fuck, Johnny thought, he wanted too but he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands to himself. It was already hard enough not being able to touch Daniel generally, imagine how hard it would be being that close to happen but not being able to do what he wanted, not being able to touch him or hold him or even kiss him-</p><p>“I mean yeah, if you want. If it’s not too small for you.” The blonde rolled his eyes at the comment, but also smiled at the thought of being crammed up in a twin bed next to Daniel. Then he could have an excuse to touch him, to be close to him.</p><p>“Yeah yeah, whatever. Sure LaRusso, I’ll sleep there.” Neither one of them had actually changed into their sleepwear yet. Fuck it, Johnny thought as he took off his shirt, paying attention to Daniel’s reaction as he did so.</p><p>Daniel’s mouth was wide open and his eyes were practically popping out of his head. He was right, Johnny did have nice, well-developed abs. Daniel couldn’t tear his eyes away from them. He could feel himself drooling a little but still couldn’t bring himself to look away.</p><p>“Like what you see?” Johnny teased, smirk only growing wider at the other boys reaction. He loved making Daniel all flustered.</p><p>“Shut up, blondie. Just get in the damn bed.” Daniel realized how flirty that sounded, mentally kicking himself for wording things like that. He threw a pillow at Johnny, who had started wiggling his eyebrows in a teasing way. The deer-eyed boy still didn’t look away from Johnny’s abs, though. Johnny didn’t notice he was still staring, he was thinking about how hot Daniel sounded.</p><p>About a minute later, they were both laying in Daniel’s twin sized bed, cramped together and staring up at the ceiling in silence. Their skin was barely touching, they both wanted to get closer but they also feared that the other would get uncomfortable. So the silence was slightly awkward.</p><p>Daniel decided that they should talk about something instead of laying here doing nothing, they both weren’t tired anyways. Before he could say anything, Johnny spoke up.</p><p>“You know, I wasn’t born rich.” Johnny confessed. Daniel raised an eyebrow in response, out of all the things Johnny could say, he said that. The dark haired teen didn’t believe it. He thought Johnny had always lived in his huge Encino Hills mansion. He was wrong.</p><p>“Really?” The two boys turned to face each other, propping their heads up on their elbows. It was dark, the only light being from the moon that shone through the window, but they could still see each other well enough. Johnny signed and decided to tell him everything. He was letting his guard down, and he was trusting someone for once. He was trusting Daniel.</p><p>“Yeah. Before my mom married Sid, we were poor. We could barely afford anything at all. She only married him so we could have a better life.” The blonde frowned at the thought of Sid. He hated the bastard, he hated talking or thinking about him. He looked at Daniel, who was giving him a look that let him know he had his full attention. Johnny decided to continue.</p><p>“It wasn’t always a better life. Sid’s kind of an asshole. He treats my mom like shit, basically degrades her every chance he gets. He can’t stand me either. He only gives me everything I want so I’ll keep my mouth shut and keep up his perfect image.” Johnny swallowed dryly, hearing himself say it out loud was new. Admitting his feelings was new, letting his guard down was new, having feelings for Daniel was new, this was all new. He was getting a bit overwhelmed. Daniel studied the other boys face, trying to figure out his emotions. He knew he was scared to let his guard down. But he didn’t have to be scared with Daniel. He understood him.</p><p>Daniel felt himself scooting closer, brushing his free hand across Johnny’s. The blonde looked down at their hands, and decided that, fuck it, he was alone with Daniel and if Daniel was okay with them touching, then he would do it. Johnny intertwined their fingers, giving his hand a firm squeeze. The dark haired boy’s heart melted at the sight of them holding hands. He felt lightheaded because being able to be this close to Johnny was all he wanted. Johnny was all he wanted.</p><p>“Sometimes I’d prefer to go back to the old life, where we didn’t have much but at least it was enough and we didn’t have that asshole berating every thing we do, you know?” Johnny continued, and that was all he had left of that. Now Daniel knew a lot of his home life. He didn’t go into how much of an asshole Sid could be or anything like that, but now Daniel knew the truth of where he came from and how his home life was.</p><p>“Yeah, I had no idea it was like that, man. I’m glad ya told me.” Daniel was glad that Johnny was finally letting his guard down. It only made his feelings for the boy grow even stronger. Johnny was just afraid of someone else taking advantage of his vulnerability and manipulating him, but he knew Daniel would never do that. Never.</p><p>“Well, I trust you, Danny.” Johnny admitted, finally. He moved his thumb along the back of Daniel’s hand, caressing the smooth skin. He then brought it up to his lips, gently kissing his knuckles. Daniel wanted to melt. He wanted to kiss Johnny right then and there. Johnny had no idea of the effect that he had on Daniel. The Bambi-eyed boy would do just about anything for him.</p><p>“You know what? Maybe this life is better, because I got to meet you.” Johnny added, looking back up into Daniel’s big brown eyes, which still shined even though it was dark in the room. He meant every word he said. He trusted Daniel. His life was better because of Daniel. And he wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he was falling hard for Daniel.</p><p>“I feel the same way.” The other boy removed his hand from Johnny’s, causing the other teen to frown. He frowned too soon, though, because Daniel only did that to do something else. He closed the distance between him and Johnny, wrapping an arm around the blonde’s waist and pressing his face into his chest.</p><p>Johnny tensed up at the action. He hoped Daniel couldn’t feel how fast his heart was beating.</p><p>“It’s okay. It’s just me.” Daniel said, lips gently brushing Johnny’s chest as he spoke, softly tickling his soft skin. The other teen relaxed, letting his head fall back on the pillow. He wrapped his arms around Daniel, pulling the boy even closer to him. Daniel hummed in contentment, extremely happy to be in his crush’s arms. This felt like a dream, for both boys.</p><p>“I know.” Johnny whispered, softy pressing his lips to Daniel’s forehead. He then closed his eyes, knowing he was going to sleep good tonight. How could he not, when this angel was sleeping next to him. Daniel felt happy, truly happy, you know, one-hundred percent happy without feeling any other emotions. He hadn’t felt this ever since they got to California, but now he was happy to be here. Happy because now he was in Johnny’s arms, his face practically buried in the other boy’s chest.</p><p>Daniel realized something that night; he was in love with Johnny Lawerence.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I like how the ending turned out ;) things get even more heated in the next two chapters. I hope you guys liked this one!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5 - The Halloween Dance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It’s time for the Halloween dance, but Daniel has two problems : it seems like Johnny’s ignoring him, and he doesn’t have a costume.</p><p>Everything gets fixed at the actual dance though. ;)</p><p>Well, almost everything.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m sorry if there’s any mistakes, I wrote this at 4am and didn’t proofread all of it. :/</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s been three days since the sleepover, and tonight there was supposed to be a Halloween party at the school. Normally, Daniel would be excited, but that wasn’t the case this year. And not just because he had no idea what he was going to dress up as.</p><p>No, the main reason was because it seemed like Johnny was avoiding him ever since their sleepover. Whenever Daniel tried to talk to him, it seemed like Johnny always had somewhere else to be, barely saying a word to the other boy. That’s how it had been, ever since he finally fully opened up to him. Daniel didn’t know if he was scared or what, but he was distraught at lack of time spent with Johnny. He had gotten so used to him being around, it was like they were joined at the hip.</p><p>Maybe that was the problem, Daniel thought as he layed in his bed that morning (alone). What if Johnny had gotten weirded out at them falling asleep cuddling, and figured out that Daniel was in love with him. Daniel shuddered at that thought, knowing that if Johnny found out about it, then he would hate him.</p><p>That wasn’t a pleasant thought. But it was conclusion that Daniel came too. He wanted to disappear into thin air or go back to Newark, or something. Anything to get out of this situation. He couldn’t think logically, not when there was a chance that Johnny might hate him.</p><p>Daniel would’ve spent the day overthinking in bed if he could. Unfortunately, school had other plans.</p><p>~</p><p>School was the last place that Daniel wanted to be. He walked through the halls, trying to avoid running into anyone that he knew. He was out of luck, though, since Ali was standing by his locker.</p><p>“Hey Daniel! Are you going to the dance tonight?” Ali asked, beaming up at him. Now Daniel REALLY wanted to disappear. Ali had a crush on him, he knew that, but he didn’t like her back, not like that. He only wanted to be her friend. Hopefully she wouldn’t go ahead and tell him, he had no idea how to let her down easily.</p><p>“Uh...I dunno...I don’t even have a costume.” Daniel answered truthfully, opening his locker to avoid eye contact. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to go. He considered asking Johnny, but that was hard to do with the other teen ignoring him.</p><p>“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. I really want you to come.” Ali whined as Daniel shut his locker and turned around, leaning his back against it. He instantly spotted Johnny in the courtyard, talking to his douchebag friends. He couldn’t tell from here, but Johnny was not happy to be around them.</p><p>Ali started talking about her costume, but Daniel wasn’t listening. How could he, when he got distracted by the literal picture of perfection. He was getting lost staring at Johnny, even though he was angry at the other teen for ignoring him. That didn’t change the fact that he was captivating, though. Daniel could get lost in that blonde, blue-eyed, tall, muscular figure any day of the week. He wanted to talk to him so bad. Wanted to hear his voice and savor the sweet words that came out of his mouth.</p><p>“Yeah...uh-huh...” Daniel mumbled, not being able to look away from Johnny. He didn’t realize that Johnny had a sixth sense, and that was being able to tell whenever Daniel was around. It could be really unfortunate sometimes. Johnny looked in Daniel’s direction, frowning once he saw him talking to Ali. He didn’t want Ali anymore, not by a long shot. He wanted Daniel, and he was slightly jealous of Ali for being around him. Johnny wanted to be in her place, and not around his stupid friends who he didn’t even want to call friends anymore. He was only around them, because somehow they found out that he spent the night at Daniel’s (fucking assholes knew everything), and they were pissed for no good reason at all, only because Johnny kept hanging out with a ‘wimp’. Johnny knew that they would hurt Daniel because they hated him for no reason, so he decided to keep his distance for a while to keep him safe. And besides, now he could keep an eye on his ‘friends’ to make sure they weren’t going to do anything.</p><p>“Daniel? Are you listening?” Daniel completely forgot that Ali was talking. He felt bad, Johnny was just so fucking distracting. The said teen was still staring at him, and if Daniel could see him, he would notice that he had a scowl on his face. He couldn’t tear his eyes away until Ali was gone.</p><p>“Uh, yeah...sorry...I have to go...” Daniel looked from Johnny to Ali, and then back to Johnny. He decided that fuck it, he was going to talk to him. He couldn’t stand being away from his crush.</p><p>For the second time that day, Daniel had bad luck as the bell rang. He watched as Johnny started walking the other direction, not wanting to let him get away. Daniel didn’t care if he got yelled at for running, he was going to talk to him.</p><p>“Hey Johnny! Wait up, man!” The dark haired teen shouted as he got closer, but Johnny just kept walking, pace slightly increasing. He hated ignoring Daniel. Absolutely despised it. But his safety came first, always. Daniel mentally screamed in frustration at being ignored, so he ran in front of Johnny, leaving him no choice but to stop.</p><p>“Why aren’t you talking to me? Did I do something wrong?” Daniel begged, wanting to know why. Was it because he was scared after opening up? Because they held hands and cuddled, and fell asleep like that? Johnny sighed, he could tell what Daniel was thinking, and was mad at himself for making Daniel think it was his fault. He’d have to explain later. It has been a few days, and he was going crazy, so he was really hoping his friends had forgotten the whole situation and it was safe to talk to Daniel.</p><p>“No, not at all. I have to get to class, okay? Later, LaRusso.” Johnny wanted to explain everything, but he couldn’t do that now. Not here. He’d either go to Daniel’s house on the weekend, or he would talk to him at the Halloween party, if he could.</p><p>Daniel groaned in disappointment as Johnny walked past him. This shit sucked. He still wasn’t giving up on him, though. He would never.</p><p>~</p><p>That night was the Halloween party. Daniel was really considering skipping it, but Mr. Miyagi found a costume for him. It was a shower costume. Daniel found that original. He was making his way into the party, not being able to see anything, but hoping Johnny was there.</p><p>And Johnny was there, wearing a skeleton costume, his face painted and all. Every year him and his friends went wearing a group costume, and this year it was skeletons. It was totally cool. He knew he could get all the babes if he wanted too, but the only babe he wanted was Daniel LaRusso.</p><p>That’s why he started looking around, hoping the deer-eyed boy would be there somewhere. He didn’t see Daniel, but he did see someone in a shower costume, and he knew, somehow he just knew, that it was him. He was waiting until his douchebag friends went away so he could go and make his move. The shower curtain would be good for privacy.</p><p>A few minutes later, Tommy and Jimmy went to go flirt with girls, Dutch went to the bathroom to roll a joint, and Bobby went with the idiot. This was the perfect opportunity to talk to Daniel.</p><p>And that’s what he did, and he moved quickly, noticing Ali smiling and staring at the shower too. Like he was going to let her get to him first. Strike first, strike hard. He stopped in front of the shower curtain, pretending to knock on it, feeling like an idiot. A hot idiot.</p><p>“LaRusso? You in there?” Daniel jumped at the sound of Johnny’s voice. He didn’t expect the other boy to recognize him in his costume, let alone actually talk to him. As annoyed as he was with Johnny, he was still going to let him in.</p><p>“Look who finally decided to stop avoiding me.” Daniel said bitterly as he opened the curtains, glaring at Johnny (he was still cute though). If looks could kill, he would be dead. The dark haired boy was sort of exaggerating his anger, hiding the fact he was extremely happy that Johnny decided to talk to him.</p><p>Johnny regretted ignoring him. He was only trying to protect him. He saw now that this wasn’t the way to do it, seeing Daniel mad made him wish he could take it back. Screw what Dutch and the other assholes thought, he wanted to be around Daniel. Anywhere and everywhere.</p><p>“I’m sorry, okay? Can we talk?” Daniel kept the glare for only a second before, before warmly smiling at the other boy. He could tell he regretted ignoring him, and would always take him back in a heartbeat.</p><p>“Yeah. Get in here.” The blonde smiled back at him as he walked into the shower with him, and Daniel closed the curtains behind him. He turned to face Johnny, internally blushing at how close they are.</p><p>“Are you really dressed as a shower, LaRusso?” Johnny laughed at him, finding the costume absolutely hilarious. He found the look on Daniel’s face even more hilarious. He was pretending to be offended, crossing his arms but being unable to hide the dreamy smile on his face. The smile that made Johnny’s heart melt.</p><p>“Maybe. My costume is better than yours.” Daniel joked, looking Johnny up and down. The skeleton costume was ridiculous, but Johnny looked cute in just about anything. His face still looked perfect even with that ridiculous skeleton paint, and somehow, the bones on his...outfit...made his body look even more toned.</p><p>“No way, I could have every babe here if I wanted too.” Now Daniel actually looked offended. He didn’t like the thought of random girls around Johnny, who he desperately wanted to be his. He wanted to be the only one this close to him, staring deep into those cerulean eyes and brushing against his smooth skin.</p><p>“Shut up, blondie.” The dark haired teen didn’t realize how mad he sounded, and turned his back to Johnny, feeling a little embarrassed that he had snapped and sounded so jealous. Johnny didn’t get it. He didn’t get why Daniel had sounded so mad.</p><p>“Oh come on, I didn’t mean that. You jealous or something, LaRusso?” Johnny teased, getting close to Daniel from behind. Daniel’s back was pressed into his chest, and Daniel was fighting the urge to lean back and be impossibly closer to Johnny.</p><p>“No!” Daniel snapped again, moving away from Johnny, who was really close to wrapping his arms around him and full on hugging him from behind. Johnny decided that he better be nice now, if he didn’t want Daniel to throw him out of his shower costume.</p><p>Daniel wouldn’t do that, though. He liked being around him too much.</p><p>Johnny grabbed Daniel’s shoulders, turning him around to face him. Daniel didn’t look into his eyes, instead he looked down at the floor. The blonde knew he owed him an explanation. He hated seeing Daniel so upset. He never wanted him to be anything but happy.</p><p>“Look, I’m sorry for ignoring you, okay? I was just trying to protect you from Dutch and the other idiots. I don’t know how they found out about me spending the night at your place, but they’re pissed about it and I stayed away so you wouldn’t get hurt again.” Johnny looked down as he spoke, his hair gently brushing against Daniel’s forehead. Daniel got it now, he was just trying to protect him. That was sweet, but he’d rather be at risk for an ass-beating than not talk to Johnny at all.</p><p>“You didn’t have to avoid me like I had the plague, you know.” Daniel replied after a few seconds, finally looking up. Johnny looked up too, his cerulean eyes meeting Daniel’s deep brown ones.</p><p>“I know. I’m sorry.” He genuinely felt bad. Daniel just shook his head, already forgiving him. He put his hands around Johnny’s shoulders, smiling to himself at the fact that he was able to touch him again.</p><p>“It’s okay. You’re lucky you’re cute, or I’d still be mad.” Johnny smiled at him, feeling the electricity that came with the contact. He missed this. If he could, he would avoid ever having to ignore Daniel again. He’d fight Dutch if he had too. Daniel was worth it. Worth the fight.</p><p>“Yeah? And you look cute even in that ridiculous costume of yours. Now come here.” Daniel playfully rolled his eyes, but pulled the slightly taller boy closer, resting his head on his shoulder. Johnny did the same, pressing his lips against Daniel’s neck, gently brushing them against his skin.</p><p>“I missed you, blondie. Don’t ever avoid me again.” Daniel whispered, rubbing his hands along Johnny’s back. Johnny shivered at the feeling, but it was a good kind so shiver. Being with Daniel felt like being on top of the world.</p><p>“Don’t worry, I won’t. I had to find you because I missed you too.” Johnny said back, his voice full of meaning. Even a few days without Daniel just plain sucked. Next time his friends got involved he was just going to actually talk to Daniel about what was going on, and they could figure out what to do, together.</p><p>“Oh did you?” The dark haired teen removed his head from the blonde’s shoulder, instead he pressed their foreheads together, his blonde bangs falling on Daniel’s forehead, but neither one of them minded one bit. Johnny couldn’t believe how close he was to Daniel’s lips. He wanted to kiss them, to feel how they felt against his, to finally know what he tasted like. He wanted too, so badly, but he didn’t. He didn’t want to ruin his moment. Instead, he savored the feel of Daniel’s forehead against his.</p><p>“Of course I did. You’re the only person I trust, remember?” Johnny grinned widely as he rubbed their noses together. Daniel inhaled sharply, nervous about being this close to him. But he loved it. It felt so damn good.</p><p>“I remember.” Both boys laughed softly, hugging each other again. Daniel sighed in pleasure at the feel of Johnny’s lips against his neck. Johnny wanted to do more than just have his lips there. His lips felt nice against Daniel’s soft skin, but he wanted more.</p><p>And he was going to get more. He was going to go for it, because he simply couldn’t fight it anymore. Strike first.</p><p>“You know, I’m glad you dressed as a shower.” Johnny could feel his heart beating faster and his body trembling. He was going to do it. He was going to kiss Daniel. To finally know how his lips feel and to finally know how he tastes.</p><p>“And why’s that?” Daniel was genuinely curious, although he wanted to kiss Johnny as well. He’d do just about anything to feel his lips against his own.</p><p>Johnny took a deep breath, breaking the big enough to wear their arms were still around each other, but they could see each other. Daniel could see the nervousness in Johnny’s eyes, and he was hoping it was what he was thinking, that Johnny wanted to kiss him, for once Daniel actually thought it was possible.</p><p>And it was. Johnny’s eyes flickered from Daniel’s and then down to his lips. They were slightly parted as always, and up close they looked hot and wet. Johnny was about to lose it. He started leaning in, his lips centimeters away from Daniel’s. This was it, he was finally getting to do what he wanted since the day he met him.</p><p>Their lips were about to brush together when they heard a loud, chicken-like scream from outside of the curtain. They both jumped apart, looking at each other and then at the curtain.</p><p>“What the hell-“ Daniel opened the curtain, regretting his decision as soon as he saw a chicken dancing around and throwing real eggs at people. He regretted his decision even more once he got hit with one of them. He groaned, disappointed that this had interrupted what could’ve been a kiss. Johnny was also disappointed but that was clouded with laughter as he started cackling, almost doubling over. Daniel glared at the blonde, rolling his eyes but being amused at seeing him laughing.</p><p>“You done laughing yet?” The dark haired boy asked, being answered by even more laughter. He decided to get this dumb egg out of his hair, and maybe once he came back Johnny would be calmed down and they could resume what they were doing. Resume the kiss.</p><p>“Right. I’m gonna go get this off my head. I’ll be right back.” Daniel remarked, nudging Johnny out of the curtain and closing it before walking towards the bathroom.</p><p>“Don’t take too long.” Johnny said between laughter. Daniel rolled his eyes again and continued walking, silently smirking at the fact that him and Johnny almost kissed. Maybe it was possible that the blonde felt the same.</p><p>~</p><p>Daniel stood in front of the sink, getting the last pieces of the damn egg out of his hair. He was hoping to hurry this up and get Johnny alone outside, and finally kiss him.</p><p>“Dutch! Dutch! You got that number rolled yet?” Daniel practically jumped out of skin and that name. He instantly closed his shower curtain, peaking out to see Bobby standing outside of the last stall. Dutch looked over the stall, glaring at Bobby, like he had interrupted something. They were wearing the same costume as Johnny, Daniel quickly noted, although he thought Johnny looked much better.</p><p>“In a minute, damn.” Dutch snapped, shooing Bobby away from the stall. Daniel noticed a joint in his hand and rolled his eyes for the third time that night.</p><p>“I’m going to get the guys. Besides Johnny who’s probably somewhere making out with Danielle. Hurry up.” Daniel gaped at the comment, wanting to punch Bobby for calling him ‘Danielle’. He still managed to fully close his curtain as Bobby walked past, ignoring the weird kid dressed as a shower.</p><p>That’s when Daniel spotted a hose next to the wall. This would be the perfect revenge on Dutch for giving him a hard time ever since he got here. He didn’t waste a second before grabbing the hose, tiptoeing down to the second to last stall, climbing the wall and looking down at Dutch, who was rolling a joint.</p><p>Daniel didn’t even think as he positioned it directly above Dutch, and walking back to where he found the hose and turning the handle.</p><p>“Shit!” Dutch yelled from the last stall, punching the wall and using every curse word under the sun. Daniel decided that now would be a good time to run. He almost tripped and knocked over a kid as he left the bathroom, but he had to get out of there. He knew what he did was stupid, he just couldn’t resist.</p><p>“Where are you going, LaRusso?” Johnny grabbed Daniel’s arm as he tried to run by, knowing something was wrong by the panicked look on his face.</p><p>“Look, I did something I probably shouldn’t have-...I gotta get out of here!” Daniel explained, looking at the door of the bathroom where Dutch just came out. He released his arm from Johnny’s grip and ran, knowing Dutch had seen him.</p><p>“Dutch?! What the fuck are you doing?!” Dutch ran over to him, followed by Bobby, who was then followed by Tommy and Jimmy. They all fell over each other, and Johnny could swear he heard the sound of bones falling, which was ironic, since they were all dressed as skeletons.</p><p>“Get out of my fucking way, Johnny!” Johnny watched as Dutch got up and followed Daniel out of the door, the other three following him. It didn’t take Johnny but a second to put two and two together and realize Daniel was about to get his ass kicked again. Johnny instantly followed them, he kill them if they put their hands on Daniel again.</p><p>~</p><p>The four idiots ran after Daniel, finally cornering him against a fence. The kid was fast, but they were going to kick his ass like their lives depended on it. Dutch was sick of him. He was turning Johnny into a pussy.</p><p>Jimmy and Tommy pulled Daniel down from the fence he tried to climb, shoving him into Dutch, who punched him in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain.</p><p>“You ain’t going nowhere, you little wimp!” Dutch shouted, pushing him back towards Tommy and Jimmy. Daniel wanted to fight back, he was not weak by a long shot, but it was hard when there was four of them and only one of him.</p><p>“You couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you, little twerp?” Daniel winced as Dutch leaned forward and grabbed him by his shirt. Tommy and Jimmy reluctantly laughed and Bobby awkwardly stood there. He didn’t want anything to do with this.</p><p>“No, you had to push it. Now you’re gonna pay!” Dutch punched Daniel in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground. He felt like he couldn’t stand. Dutch was about to deliver another blow, but he was grabbed by the back of his shirt and thrown away from Daniel.</p><p>“Leave him the hell alone!” Dutch couldn’t believe that Johnny had actually stopped them from hitting Daniel. How much of a pussy had this kid made him? One look at Johnny’s face and he could tell he was pissed, more pissed than Dutch had ever seen him.</p><p>“Why do you fucking care so much, Johnny? He’s just some piece of shit poor kid! He’s worth nothing!” Johnny was getting angrier as Dutch spoke. Nobody talked about Daniel that way. Dutch was lucky he was still standing. Daniel was not just some ‘piece of shit poor kid’. To Johnny, he was everything.</p><p>“Shut up, asshole! If you want to hurt him, you have to get through me.” The four boys couldn’t believe what he was saying (besides Bobby, he knew things). Johnny would defend Daniel with his life, that’s how much he cared about him. Hell, he felt like he needed Daniel.</p><p>Dutch took a moment to process what Johnny had just said. If he wanted to get to Daniel, he’d have to fight Johnny first. At this point, he didn’t care. He was sick of Johnny always acting like a little bitch because of this Daniel kid. A devilish smirk formed on Dutch’s face as he knew what was about to go down.</p><p>“Okay.” He said, cracking his knuckles. Johnny did not look intimidated in the slightest.</p><p>“Dutch no, come on man, Johnny’s one of us.” Bobby said, stepping in between the two. They had been two of his best friends since high school, and he didn’t want it all to be ruined. They weren’t supposed to fight like this.</p><p>“Shut the fuck up!” Dutch shouted, pushing Bobby to the side. Right now he didn’t care how long he knew Johnny. He wasn’t going to be friends with a pussy.</p><p>“No mercy.” Dutch muttered, punching Johnny. Johnny cursed, knowing he was going to have a black eye, but punched Dutch right back. It turned into an all out fight, the two going at each other. Daniel had tried to free himself from Tommy and Jimmy’s grasp, but they only tightened their grip. Johnny had no idea how he was going to take all four of them.</p><p>But luckily, he didn’t have too. He looked up and saw a guy climbing the fence, and the next thing he knew an old man who he had never scene before was at his side and helping him kick the four boy’s asses. Johnny was pretty sure he kicked Dutch in the nuts, which he would make sure to laugh about later. Right now he was only focused on one thing. Daniel. </p><p>“T-thanks...” Johnny said to the old man, who nodded in return. He had no idea who he was, but he could ask that after he made sure Daniel was okay. The blonde didn’t waste another moment before running towards Daniel, helping him up.</p><p>“Johnny.” Daniel breathed, his voice a little strained, his brown eyes still a little wide, but he was so fucking glad that Johnny showed up. He wasn’t sure what he did to deserve this boy, but he was damn glad that he had him.</p><p>“Danny.” Johnny rushed forward, wrapping his arms around Daniel’s waist and hugging him tight (but not too tight). The other boy hugged him back, wrapping his arms around Johnny’s neck.</p><p>“Are you okay? Holy shit.” The blonde asked, slowly rubbing Daniel’s back. He wanted to move his hands a little lower, but decided that now was not the time or the place.</p><p>“Yeah man, what about you? Your eye...” Daniel felt guilty as he caressed Johnny’s cheek, staring at the black eye he now had. He couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault, since he was the one who had pissed Dutch off.</p><p>“Ah, it’s nothing. I’ve had worse.” Johnny shrugged, and it really didn’t hurt that bad, besides, he didn’t want Daniel worrying about him. He was just glad that he was okay.</p><p>“This is my fault. If I hadn’t of sprayed him with the hose-“ Daniel started to say, but Johnny cut him off.</p><p>“Wait. You did what?” Johnny asked, wanting to facepalm but also not wanting to let go of Daniel. He broke the hug enough to look into those pretty brown eyes, which were glancing down. Daniel opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, the old man spoke up.</p><p>“Boys. Come now, talk later.” He signaled for them to follow him around the gate. Daniel fully broke the hug, but grabbed Johnny’s hand and followed him. Johnny didn’t know where they were going, but he’d follow Daniel just about anywhere. Especially if he got to hold his hand.</p><p>~</p><p>They arrived at the man’s house, and Johnny found out that his name was Mr. Miyagi, and he worked at Daniel’s apartment, but they had become pretty good friends, and Johnny could see why, after all he had saved their asses with some pretty badass karate moves. He’d make sure to remember that.</p><p>“Thanks again for saving our asses, Mr. Miyagi.” Daniel said for the 50th time on their short walk over here. He had also thanked Johnny, multiple times, squeezing his hand every time. Johnny found that extremely sweet and adorable. Sweet and adorable were just the words to describe Daniel.</p><p>“Welcome. Come inside. Both of you.” Johnny was about to follow them inside, but then he remembered he had a curfew. He was supposed to be home in about twenty minutes, but Encino Hills was a half an hour away from Reseda.</p><p>“I’d love too, but I actually have to go now. Thanks again.” Mr. Miyagi nodded as a response, before walking inside of the house. Daniel turned to face Johnny, knowing he was going to get lectured before he left.</p><p>“I can’t believe you drenched Dutch with a hose, LaRusso.” Johnny crossed his arms as he spoke. He wasn’t mad or anything, just a little annoyed at how stubborn Daniel could be. He understood though, he would probably do the same thing.</p><p>“Yeah I know, it was stupid. He just pisses me off, that’s all.” Daniel sighed, knowing this probably wasn’t the last time Dutch was going to try to kick his ass. The guy never learned.</p><p>“I get it. Just don’t get yourself into trouble again, okay? I can’t stand seeing you hurt, you know that, you dork.” Johnny ruffled Daniel’s hair before pulling him in close again with one arm, he couldn’t get enough of touching him. It was the best feeling in the world, as lame as that sounded.</p><p>“Thanks for not joining in on my beating.” The dark haired boy leaned up, placing a soft kiss on Johnny’s jawline. He wasn’t afraid to do things like that anymore. It wasn’t like it was an actual kiss, anyways. An actual kiss would probably scare both of them to death.</p><p>“You know I’d never hurt you. I’d do anything to protect you, even when you do stupid shit.” It was the truth. Johnny looked into Daniel’s Bambi eyes, admiring them like he always did. They were so damn beautiful, Daniel was so damn beautiful. He was just fucking perfect.</p><p>“I know.” Daniel smiled as Johnny kissed his forehead, squeezing him closer to his muscular body, gently smiling as their foreheads pressed together.</p><p>“And thank you for protecting me. I still feel bad because you have a black eye now, though...” The blonde rolled his eyes. He didn’t blame Daniel, and frankly he didn’t even care about the black eye. He’d have some explaining to do to his mom if she noticed, but other than that, he was just relieved that they didn’t seriously hurt Daniel. Daniel was all that mattered.</p><p>“Hey, don’t worry about it. Dutch is just an asshole. Hopefully he’ll fuck off for real this time.” Johnny knew that was false hope. Dutch had never fucked off of anything.</p><p>“Yeah, I hope so too.” They both knew he probably wouldn’t. At least he’d fuck off for a little while. Maybe.</p><p>“I’ll see you later, dumb ass.” Johnny kissed Daniel’s forehead once more, before letting go of him and walking away. He really wanted to take Daniel on an actual date soon. Maybe he wouldn’t call it that out loud, but in his head, it would be a date.</p><p>“See you later, blondie.” Daniel replied affectionately. Johnny smiled back at him from over his shoulder, before jogging back to the school, where he left his car. Daniel watched as he left, a huge grin on his face as he kept thinking about him. He was so damn perfect, it was like he kept finding new ways to make him feel special. And he wasn’t done yet.</p><p>“You like Johnny-san.” Daniel was jump-scared for the third time today, but that one was probably the most embarrassing. He turned around to face Mr. Miyagi, who had probably heard the whole conversation. Daniel turned crimson red at the knowing look on his face. Was it really that obvious? (Yes, yes it was).</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go inside.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That one was long af, I like how the shower costume part went, though. It was fun to picture it actually happening like that lmao. I hope you guys liked this one!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6 - First Dates</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The boys finally get to go on a real date &lt;3</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warning for MOST of the chapter : a lot of fluff XD</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn’t even a week later that Johnny decided enough was enough and he was going to do it. He was going to ask Daniel out on a real date. What was the harm, it was just a date, it wasn’t going to cause any major problems, everyone would think they’re just two friends hanging out, right? (Because Johnny could totally resist holding his and or having his arm around him. Not.).</p>
<p>Whatever. He was still going to do it. All that was on his mind was Daniel. It was always Daniel.</p>
<p>Speaking of Daniel, he was currently at his locker, having no idea that Johnny was standing directly behind him, trying to work up the courage to ask him out. He didn’t understand why he was so nervous. He’s asked people out before, but this was different. There was something about Daniel that made him feel this way. The boy was intoxicating.</p>
<p>Johnny mentally slapped himself for stalling, and for fearing rejection. All he had to do was ask him, and if he said no he could play it off as a joke or something.</p>
<p>“Hey, LaRusso.” Strike first, strike hard, Johnny thought to himself as he leaned against the locker. Daniel turned to face him and smiled at him warmly. He was always happy to see the idiot.</p>
<p>“Hey there, blondie.” Daniel moved closer to Johnny, just for the hell of it. Johnny felt his heart start beating faster, like it always did when Daniel was close to him. He wouldn’t let his nervousness get in the way. He wanted this too much.</p>
<p>“So I was thinking of going to Golf N Stuff tonight...and I was wondering if you wanted to come with.” There, it didn’t even sound like Johnny was asking him out. And it wasn’t as hard as Johnny thought it would be. But, Daniel knew him better than that. He could see the look in his eyes, could sense his fear.</p>
<p>“You askin’ me out?” Daniel teased, putting Johnny on the spot. Johnny rolled his eyes at the other boy. He was going to make him say it.</p>
<p>“Yeah.” Johnny shrugged, he didn’t know how else to say it. Daniel was surprised that Johnny had actually asked him out. He couldn’t believe it. He knew there was something more than friendship between them, you know, from what had happened at the dance, but he was still surprised that this was real and not just another one of his dreams.</p>
<p>“Wait, so we’re actually going somewhere, you know, just the two of us, like a date-“ This was getting ridiculous at this point. Daniel just wanted to make sure that it was a date, and not just two buddies hanging out. He wanted more than that.</p>
<p>“Yes LaRusso, like a date. If you don’t want to go-“ Johnny started to say, expecting Daniel to cut him off. Daniel wasn’t about to turn down an opportunity to go on a date with him.</p>
<p>“Of course I want to go! Bout time you asked me. By the way, what’s Golf N Stuff?” The blonde facepalmed at the stupid question, before realizing Daniel had agreed to go on a date with him. He was smiling like an idiot on the inside, keeping his cool on the outside.</p>
<p>Daniel was doing the same. He wasn’t about to express his joy and squeal like a little girl on the outside. That would be lame. He really was happy, though. This was really happen. He was actually going on a date with Johnny Lawerence, his crush. (The boy he was in love with).</p>
<p>“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Johnny remarked, looking at Daniel like he had grown two heads. He was doing a real good job at keeping himself under composure. Daniel had no idea how excited the other teen was. And Johnny had no idea how excited he was either.</p>
<p>“What? How am I supposed to know what that is!” It was a genuine question. He really did have no idea what Gold N Stuff was. At least if he didn’t know, there would be more for him to be excited about.</p>
<p>“You’re about to have the best night of your life. I’ll pick you up at eight, okay?” Johnny was already planning this whole thing out. He decided that they were taking the motorcycle, because then Daniel would have to hold on to him. Johnny would take advantage of any chance to be close to him.</p>
<p>“Okay. I’ll see you then.” Daniel smiled at him and walked away, knowing the bell was about to ring. He looked back once and saw Johnny doing a victory dance. The dark haired teen just shook his head and smiled wider, knowing tonight was going to be pretty damn great. Anything that had to do with Johnny was pretty damn great.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>The school day went by slow of course, Daniel felt like he was watching the clock constantly, waiting for the day to end. Even when he got home, he checked the clock every five seconds, waiting for it to get closer to eight. That’s how excited he was.</p>
<p>He had to tell his mom he was going out, and of course she wanted to know with who. He told her the truth, that he was going out with Johnny. Needless to say, Lucille was just as excited as he was.</p>
<p>“So is this a date?” Lucille asked, winking at him. Daniel blushed out of embarrassment, thanking the stars that Johnny was the one picking him up and his mom didn’t have to take them, so she wouldn’t be able to tease them during their car ride.</p>
<p>“Ma! Don’t make a big deal out of it, okay?” To Daniel, it was a big deal. It was a date with the boy he was madly in love with.</p>
<p>“Okay okay, but it’s a date, right?” Daniel groaned at his moms consistent pestering. He checked the clock again, ten minutes until eight. He was willing the clock to speed up.</p>
<p>“Yes, it’s a date.” Just as the words left Daniel’s lips, the doorbell ringed. Daniel felt his heart leap out of his chest. This was really about to happen. This was what he’s been wanting for the past almost two months.</p>
<p>“He’s here! Go on now! Be home at 11!” Lucille started pushing him out of the door. The second he was out she closed it, but she looked out the window, watching her son and her son’s crush walk down the stairs. Bout time.</p>
<p>“You look good, LaRusso.” Johnny wanted to grab his hand, but he was a little worried about people seeing. It sucked that he wasn’t able to do things like that. He couldn’t even dress as nice as he wanted too, he didn’t want people to expect it was a date. Somehow though, him and Daniel ended up matching. Johnny was wearing his red Cobra Kai hoodie, and Daniel was just wearing his plain one that also happened to be red. That was honestly a coincidence.</p>
<p>“Thanks. You look pretty good too.” Pretty good was an understatement. Johnny looked just as hot as ever, those gorgeous golden locks falling over his eyes, his cerulean eyes shining from the streetlights. He really was a pretty boy.</p>
<p>“Well come on, let’s go.” They had reached the exit to the apartment, and Daniel looked around for the Firebird. Instead, he saw the motorcycle.</p>
<p>“Wait a minute. We’re taking that thing?” Daniel gaped, eyes widening as he stared at it. He had never ridden a motorcycle before, he was sort of afraid of falling off. Johnny rolled his eyes at his precious motorcycle being called a ‘thing’.</p>
<p>“Yep. And it’s not a thing, it’s a motorcycle. Now don’t act like you don’t wanna be all close to me.” Johnny teased, nudging Daniel with his arm. It was true, the doe-eyed teen would love to be close to him. He just didn’t have a death wish.</p>
<p>“No, I do, I just don’t wanna fall off and die!” Daniel admitted.</p>
<p>“Don’t be a baby. Just hold on to me and you’ll be okay.” Johnny for on the bike, looking at Daniel and waiting for him to get on behind him. Daniel hesitated, but got on anyways. When he didn’t immediately hold on to Johnny, the blonde was disappointed, turning his head around to face Daniel and seeing his reluctance.</p>
<p>“Do you trust me?” Johnny asked, honestly wanting to know. Daniel looked up at him with soft brown eyes. Of course he did.</p>
<p>“Of course I trust you.” Daniel said just that. He trusted Johnny with his life.</p>
<p>“Then hold on to me.” Johnny turned back around and started the bike. Daniel took a deep breath and scooted closer to Johnny, wrapping his arms around the other boy’s waist.</p>
<p>Honestly, he nearly screamed when Johnny started going at a fast pace, yelling at him to go slower. He was practically squeezing him at this point. Johnny didn’t mind. He actually liked it. The feeling of Daniel’s scrawny arms around him was just perfect. It became impossibly more perfect when Daniel rested his head on Johnny’s back, holding onto him for dear life, but also enjoying practically snuggling with him.</p>
<p>Johnny drove through the streets, making sure to go at a normal pace. Daniel was still going to hold on tight either way. In fact, he never wanted to let go. And not just because of the situation. He would hold on to Johnny forever if he could. Riding a motorcycle was a lot better than Daniel could ever imagine.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>Turns out, Gold N Stuff wasn’t that far away. Daniel didn’t know how he hadn’t heard of the place before, but from what he could see so far, it was pretty awesome. The place was huge and it even had a water slide.</p>
<p>Johnny parked the motorcycle, turning it off and beginning to hop off. They were both disappointed that the ride was over, but now they had the rest of the night. Again, the blonde had it all planned out.</p>
<p>“That was actually fun.” Daniel confessed as he got off the bike. The two of them started walking to the entrance of the place side by side. They weren’t holding hands or anything, it wasn’t like they could anyways. At least they could walk with their shoulders pressed together.</p>
<p>“Yeah, even though you were suffocating me. I didn’t mind, though.” Johnny joked, knowing damn well that Daniel wasn’t suffocating him in the slightest. He probably still would’ve enjoyed it, it was hard not to enjoy any form of physical contact with Daniel. Daniel was about to comeback, but stopped when he was the true size of the water slide.</p>
<p>“Wow, look at that slide!” Daniel was aware of how excited he sounded, but he didn’t care. He had never seen a water slide that big.</p>
<p>“We’ll come back and do that next time. We need bathing suits, you dork.” Johnny pointed out. He was hoping to take him on more dates in the future. Especially if he got to see Daniel shirtless.</p>
<p>“Right...” Speaking of seeing people shirtless, Daniel was imagining Johnny being shirtless. He wouldn’t mind seeing those perfectly toned abs again.</p>
<p>“You picturing me shirtless, LaRusso?” It was like Johnny could read his mind, either that or he liked teasing him. Or both. Probably both.</p>
<p>“No.” Daniel lied, blushing and looking down. Johnny laughed at him, admiring the expression on his face that he got whenever he blushed. It was adorable, that baby face of his being red with heat and those big brown eyes wider than usual.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I think you are. Come on, let’s go in.” The dark haired boy realized that they were at the entrance, and he couldn’t wait to see what else this place had. He practically dragged Johnny in with him, even though he had no clue how to navigate this place. That’s why Johnny had to lead him to the front desk, where he payed for the two of them, despite Daniel protesting. Johnny ignored him, he was taking him out, so he was paying.</p>
<p>“This place has everything!” Daniel exclaimed as he looked around. They were walking through the place, heading towards the arcade. Johnny couldn’t resist adding a little competition.</p>
<p>“Wanna play air hockey? Bet I can beat you.” Daniel playfully rolled his eyes at the blonde, who had eagerly pulled him over to the air hockey table.</p>
<p>“In your dreams.” Daniel mumbled as he walked to the opposite side of the table, ready to prove Johnny wrong. Johnny totally thought he was going to win.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>Long story short, Daniel kicked his ass in air hockey. Johnny was convinced he cheated, not wanting to admit that he actually sucked at air hockey.</p>
<p>“You only won because you cheated.” Johnny remarked for the fifth time since they started to walk outside to the golf course.</p>
<p>“I did not cheat!” Daniel insisted, jokingly slapping Johnny’s chest. He internally gulped at the feel of his rock-hard abs. Hopefully Johnny wouldn’t notice that.</p>
<p>“Yeah, right. Wanna play mini golf?” Johnny was ready for another non-serious competition. The whole time they had just insulted each other and laughed. It was probably the best date he had ever had, and it was nowhere near done.</p>
<p>“Sure, but you’ll beat me this time because I have no idea how to play.” Daniel said honestly, and Johnny was surprised he had never played mini golf. He decided that was good thing. But not because he would definitely win, but because he had yet another excuse to be close to Daniel.</p>
<p>“Good. Just kidding, I’ll teach you.” Not even a few minutes later, Daniel was cursing at the fact that he didn’t know how to use a golf club. Johnny just chuckled and stood behind him, moving his hands down Daniel’s arms to put them in the right position. Daniel was tingling with excitement at the contact, liking how it felt to have Johnny behind him. He could feel Johnny’s breath on his neck, and it sent shivers down his spine. This was one way they could be close in public.</p>
<p>Daniel decided to pretend he still couldn’t figure out how to use the golf club, only to have an excuse to keep Johnny’s hands on him. Johnny knew he was faking it after a few minutes, but he played along. How could he not? He could barely keep his hands off Daniel, and he didn’t want too. Not anymore.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>The night was going by fast, Johnny was pretty sure that they had done almost everything, bumper cars, go carts, you name it. But believe it or not, there were still about a hundred things Daniel wanted to do.</p>
<p>“We’re going on the trampoline now.” Daniel was like a kid in a candy store, wanting to try everything. Johnny hadn’t been on the trampoline ever since he was twelve, but he would do it for Daniel.</p>
<p>“Fine, only cause you want too.” Johnny followed him onto the trampoline. Only a second later, they were both jumping around and laughing like a bunch of kids. It was fun.</p>
<p>Fun turned to heated as they both started to get tired from jumping, and practically fell on top of each other. More like Daniel had fell directly on top of Johnny, leaving the other teen ‘trapped’ beneath him. (He could easily get him off, but he didn’t want too.)</p>
<p>Daniel decided to take it a step farther and straddled Johnny, placing his hands on his chest, feeling the hard muscles that were there. Johnny placed his hands on Daniel’s hips, looking into his Bambi eyes.</p>
<p>They just stared at each other for a few minutes. Johnny liked having Daniel on top of him, that was for sure. He liked it a little too much, to be exact. It was taking everything in him to not grab Daniel’s shirt to pull him down and kiss him.</p>
<p>Daniel already had that idea, though, which was weird since Johnny was usually the one who acted first. Not this time. The dark haired boy grabbed the blonde’s shirt, pulling him up. Their lips were inches away for what felt like the millionth time. This time though, he wanted their lips to meet. And he was going too, and Johnny was going to let him, before they realized they were in a public place. And Johnny realized he was getting a hard-on from Daniel being on top of him.</p>
<p>“Okay...maybe we should uh-...” Johnny couldn’t finish his sentence. Daniel’s lips were so close and they looked so soft, so kissable. He wanted nothing more but to taste and feel them, but they were in public. He couldn’t, not right now.</p>
<p>“Yeah-...um-...” Daniel got off of Johnny, not really wanting too, but doing it anyways. He was still determined to get that kiss later tonight.</p>
<p>“Let’s go take some pictures?” The brown-eyed teen suggested, remembering that he saw a photo booth on their way over here. Johnny just nodded in response, he couldn’t bring himself to find any words. Instead he just followed Daniel to the photo booth.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>The two boys got inside of the photo booth, sitting close together. It was just the two of them now, and there was no reason why they couldn’t get close together. They didn’t take a single normal photo.</p>
<p>The first one was the two of them making goofy faces, sticking their tongues out at the camera and looking like a bunch of clowns. In the second one, they turned to face each other, and Johnny pressed their noses together right before the camera snapped the picture, closing his eyes and smiling, Daniel doing the same. Johnny grabbed his hand during that one, giving it a firm squeeze. Daniel looked up at him lovingly, not being able to stop a wide grin from forming on his face. Johnny just smiled at the camera, but in reality he was smiling because of Daniel. That was how the third one turned out. For the last one, Johnny leaned over and kissed Daniel on the cheek, causing the other boy’s mouth to drop open. Right at that moment, the camera snapped the last picture.</p>
<p>“Man, look at my face in that one!” Daniel exclaimed after they got out, grabbing the photos and looking at them. He was referring to the last one, where he looked like he had just hit someone with a door.</p>
<p>“Yeah, you look like a nerd.” Johnny teased, knowing that the look on his face was because of him. Because of that kiss on the cheek. He just couldn’t resist.</p>
<p>“You were all over me in that one. Actually, you were all over me in all of them.” Daniel retorted, a smug look on his face. It was true, they had been all over each other. They were attracted like magnets.</p>
<p>“How could I not be?” Johnny asked seriously, throwing an arm around Daniel that mostly everyone would assume was just in a friendly way. It wasn’t. The two of them split the photos in half, and Daniel couldn’t help the smile that crept up on his face as he noticed Johnny put his inside of his wallet.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>Johnny was really finding it hard to keep his cool at this point. He wanted to kiss Daniel so badly, on the lips this time, he wasn’t even thinking about the consequences. He still had his arm around him, and was trying to find somewhere private for them to go. They had ended up outside, where Johnny assumed that there had to be somewhere. He thought he found a place and was about to say something to him when a familiar female voice spoke up.</p>
<p>“Johnny? Daniel? What are you two doing here?” The two turned around and saw Ali, looking at the them in confusion. Johnny awkwardly removed his arm from Daniel’s shoulders. He was hoping they wouldn’t run into her here. He knew she had the hots for Daniel and he hated that, because he wanted Daniel to be his, and his only.</p>
<p>“You know, just-...hanging out.” Daniel suggested, but it sounded more like a question than an answer. Ali walked closer to them, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. Why did she have to be so damn perceptive?</p>
<p>“You guys don’t hate each other?” They didn’t have a reason too, they never did. The beach incident was something that they didn’t even think about anymore. Well, mostly. Johnny knew that something had changed in him that night. He didn’t want to be violent or angry all the time anymore. He just wanted to be himself, and he knew it was Daniel who made him snap out of his messed up world. (The messed up world he still completely wasn’t out of, by the way, since he still had to deal with Dutch’s nonsense and was still being taught by Kreese).</p>
<p>“No! Come on now, that thing at the beach was months ago.” Johnny realized how passive-aggressive that sounded, and looked away, trying to find anything to look at but his ex. He hadn’t even thought about her at all, not ever since Daniel had came into his life.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I actually like him now that he’s not a dick all the time.” Daniel playfully elbowed him, immediately lighting up the mood with his charm. Johnny couldn’t help but to smile and elbow him right back.</p>
<p>“And you’re alright, LaRusso.” He was more than alright. The boy was everything, the boy was perfect, but he didn’t need to say that out loud.</p>
<p>“Mhm. I have to get back to my friends. I’ll see you guys later.” Ali wasn’t stupid, not in the slightest. She knew there was something going on there, she just didn’t know exactly what it was. She decided to try not to think about it and just walked away from the two boys.</p>
<p>Once she was gone, Daniel turned to face him and started talking.</p>
<p>“She totally knows this is a date.” Johnny just shrugged. He didn’t really want anyone else to know, but Ali was an exception. He would be glad to let her know that it was date if that meant she would stay away from Daniel.</p>
<p>“She better know. I see the way she always looks at you.” It was a watered down version of the way Johnny and Daniel looked at each other. What Ali felt for either of them would never measure up to what they felt for each other. Either way, Johnny hated the way that Ali looked at Daniel. He wanted to be the only one who could look at him that way.</p>
<p>“Jealous?” Daniel questioned, finding his jealously amusing. Johnny scoffed, not willing to admit to his jealously out loud.</p>
<p>“In your dreams. Come on, let’s go over there.” Now they could finally be alone. Johnny knew he was going to be able to resist this time. He led Daniel over to a single bench surrounded by a few tall bushes, ready to make his move.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>Johnny had put his arm around Daniel the second they got to the bench, holding the other boy close.</p>
<p>“Thanks for taking me out. I really liked hangin’ with you.” Daniel layed his head on Johnny’s shoulder, feeling the warmth on his face. He could get used to this.</p>
<p>“And thank you for letting me take you on a date. And for sucking and at half of the things we played-“ Johnny laughed as Daniel attempted to swat at him, easily dodging it.</p>
<p>“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” The two sat in comfortable silence for about a minute, but Johnny’s mind was racing. There were so many things he wanted to tell Daniel. But he didn’t know how to say them. He only knew how to show them, and that was by kissing him.</p>
<p>So that was what he was going to do.</p>
<p>“Danny listen, I-...I really-...” He didn’t understand why he was so nervous. He had kissed plenty of girls, and Daniel wasn’t a girl, but that wasn’t why this was different. This was different because this was Daniel. This was someone who truly made him feel things that he didn’t understand.</p>
<p>“Yes?” Daniel looked at him with innocent brown eyes and that’s when Johnny couldn’t take it anymore.</p>
<p>He leaned forward, pressing his lips against Daniel’s, and for real this time. No more teasing or messing around, this was a real kiss.</p>
<p>Johnny felt his heart melt as Daniel kissed him back, wrapping his arms around his neck. Johnny cupped Daniel’s cheek with his hand, feeling his tongue graze along his bottom lip softly. The kiss wasn’t rough or anything, it was just a slow, sweet, and gentle kiss. Daniel’s lips were warm and soft, just like Johnny thought they would be. They continued to kiss, staying in the same position, just being lost in each other.</p>
<p>And suddenly everything felt right.</p>
<p>It felt like time had stopped. It was just the two of them, existing in this moment. Their foreheads pressed together as the kiss became deeper. Johnny had moved his hands to Daniel’s hair, running his hands through his soft, dark brown locks. </p>
<p>This was what they had been missing. This was more than they could’ve ever imagined or expected. It was just the two of them, and it felt so fucking right.</p>
<p>Until the overthinking came in. Of course Johnny started thinking about the consequences after he had went ahead and did it. He thought about how much this could hurt them both if anyone find out. Johnny didn’t want to even imagine how the other Cobras would react, how his mom and Sid would react, how Kreese would react if they found out. They would fucking kill them both.</p>
<p>But that was only part of the problem. Johnny was absolutely terrified of messing this up, of ruining this like he ruined everything else. He started thinking about how Daniel deserved better. Daniel deserved someone who wouldn’t ruin his life by being an asshole, or by putting him at risk of getting hurt by other people. Being with someone of the same sex was hard enough without thinking about everything else in their lives that they would have to deal with.</p>
<p>He didn’t know where these thoughts were coming from, he assumed they were from the insecurities he buried deep inside him for all these years. His guard was completely down and it was too much.</p>
<p>Johnny stood up in an instant, breaking the kiss and ignoring the shocked look on Daniel’s face that he would normally find adorable. The blonde had no idea what he had been thinking, deciding to kiss Daniel without thinking about how much this would change things. All of this flirting had gotten them into enough trouble, imagine how much trouble kissing and actually being in a relationship would cause. They shouldn’t be doing this.</p>
<p>“Oh god. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I just did that.” Johnny apologized, looking away from the other boy. He couldn’t look at him right now. He felt too vulnerable, and being vulnerable was something that Johnny despised.</p>
<p>“Hey, it’s okay-“ Daniel wanted to tell Johnny that he felt the same way. That he wanted to be with him, that he would risk anything and would do anything to be with him, that Johnny was everything he wanted and needed. He didn’t care who found out or what they tried to do, he only wanted one thing, and that was Johnny.</p>
<p>“No it’s not! If anyone found out about that-...man, I fucked up.” A million things were racing though Johnny’s mind, all of them being bad. He felt guilty for dragging Daniel into this. He couldn’t have someone as perfect as him. He would only mess things up.</p>
<p>“I should’ve known this was a bad idea.” Johnny didn’t want to look back, he didn’t want to imagine the look in Daniel’s eyes. He knew Daniel wanted to be with him just as much as he did. But this just couldn’t happen. It was too risky.</p>
<p>“Come on Johnny-“ It was worth the risk. Daniel didn’t give a shit about any of it. Johnny wasn’t going to listen to him though. He wanted to tell Daniel how he felt, he really did, but he couldn’t.</p>
<p>“Look just-...just forget that happened. We shouldn’t be doing this. Let’s just go.” Daniel couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of Johnny’s mouth. He knew that kiss meant a lot to him. He was just letting fear get in the way. Fear may not exist in his dojo, but it sure as hell existed here.</p>
<p>“We have to talk about this! You can’t just kiss me and then pretend it never happened!” Daniel wanted to understand, he really did, part of him knew that it was safer if they just pretended this didn’t happen, but he didn’t want too. He. Wanted. Johnny. Just Johnny.</p>
<p>“It wasn’t supposed to happen! Just forget it! Forget about this whole night! This can’t fucking happen! I was stupid to think this would work!” Johnny hated himself so much right now. He didn’t want to lose Daniel, the only thing that was making him get his life back together, making him feel truly happy. Cobra Kai didn’t make him happy, his ‘friends’ didn’t make him happy, Daniel made him happy.</p>
<p>It didn’t matter how he felt. He wasn’t good enough for Daniel, and that was that.</p>
<p>(He was wrong. So fucking wrong.)</p>
<p>“Fine! Screw you, man! If you’re not going to talk to me, just take me home and we’ll forget about it! If that’s what you want!” Daniel was done trying to get him to talk, at least for tonight. If he wanted to be like this, then fine. In reality, Daniel was screaming on the inside, and so was Johnny.</p>
<p>“Yeah, that’s what I want...” That wasn’t what he wanted. That wasn’t what either of them wanted. But neither one of them said anything. They didn’t know what else to say. Johnny refused to let his guard down any more than he already had.</p>
<p>The two boys walked to the motorcycle in silence. Johnny regretted what had just happened. He regretted kissing Daniel and then freaking out and being a dick about it. He felt stupid. How could he have thought this would work? Daniel was perfect, and Johnny didn’t deserve perfect. He was only going to drag Daniel down, and that’s why he had to stay away from him. Maybe it was better off like this.</p>
<p>Daniel felt his entire world crumbling down. He was so angry at Johnny, but he still wanted him so fucking bad that it hurt. He didn’t understand why Johnny was acting like this, and he didn’t want to hear it right now either. He just wanted to go home and lay in his bed and possibly cry. That kiss had meant so much to him, and Johnny had treated it like a mistake, like it was absolutely nothing.</p>
<p>Daniel didn’t hold on to Johnny on the ride back to his apartment. And Johnny didn’t expect him too. He couldn’t blame him for being mad. Johnny should’ve known that he was only going to ruin this, like he ruined everything else.</p>
<p>The ride was silent. Neither boy spoke a word. Not even once they reached Daniel’s place. Still not a single word. Neither said a goodbye as Daniel got off the bike and walked into his apartment complex, slamming the gate shut behind him. Johnny buried his face in his hands, wanting to cry, but he wouldn’t. Crying was for pussies. He wanted to follow Daniel and tell him he was sorry, and tell him how he really felt and how scared he was and how he didn’t want to fuck up his life. But he didn’t. Instead, he turned around and went home, his heart feeling heavy in his chest. This had to stop. Feelings were weak.</p>
<p>Daniel went straight to his room the second he entered the apartment. He didn’t want to explain to his mom what had happened. He didn’t know how to explain it because he simply didn’t understand. All he knew was that he loved Johnny, he wanted to be with Johnny, but Johnny most likely didn’t want the same thing. Daniel had thought he did. And he decided that he wasn’t going to just let Johnny get away without an explanation.</p>
<p>That was a problem for another day. For now, all Daniel could do was lay there and feel empty. That’s how it felt without Johnny, it felt like a huge pit of emptiness. And it wasn’t going to go away. Not until they talked things out.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That ending hurt to write :( don’t worry though, I can 100% promise you guys that the ending of the story will be happy!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7 - Complicated</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This one is full on angst :(</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter and the next one will be almost full of angst, but don’t worry, the fluff will continue soon enough &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s been a few days since Daniel had last talked to Johnny. He’d seen him at school and almost approached him a few times, but it’s like the other boy could sense what he was doing and always headed in the other direction. He was really starting to piss Daniel off with the whole avoiding thing. The kiss was burned into his mind, he couldn’t stop thinking about it no matter how hard he tried. He wanted to know why Johnny freaked out afterwards and told him to forget it. Daniel had really thought that he felt the same. Especially after the kiss.</p>
<p>Who was he kidding? He wasn’t stupid, and he knew that Johnny liked him back. The signs were all there. Daniel knew he was scared of something and that’s why he was staying away. He knew how scary it was to like another boy, but was it anyone’s business what they did? No.</p>
<p>It didn’t matter. Daniel was in love with Johnny and he wanted to be with him. He would figure out what was going on and he would find a way to get Johnny to admit his feelings. This couldn’t work if they didn’t communicate.</p>
<p>Daniel had no idea the true horrors of what Johnny had to deal with. Johnny acted brave and fearless on the outside, even aggressive, leading to people thinking he was a bully. He wasn’t. He just didn’t know how to deal with his feelings. In fact, instead of dealing with them, he ran away from his problems and used a punching bag to get rid of his anger.</p>
<p>Johnny was terrified of what would happen if anyone found out about what he felt for Daniel. He had it bad for him. And he hated it. Why did things always have to be so complicated, why did something always have to stand the way of him being happy? He had Kreese, Sid, his friends, and his own insecurities standing in the way of him being happy. Standing in the way of him being with Daniel.</p>
<p>Daniel had this thing about him that made life so easy. He was so fucking sweet, so charming, and so caring. He didn’t have a single flaw. And Johnny didn’t deserve that. (Or so he thought).</p>
<p>He would avoid Daniel for as long as he could. He knew if he talked to him, things would get worse. All he had to do now is make sure the other Cobras keep away from him and make sure he stays away from the dojo. Avoiding him was going to be tough, but the other stuff was going to be easy, right? (Wrong).</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the other Cobras didn’t stop messing with Daniel. Johnny thought that they would notice that he wasn’t talking to Daniel and that would would keep them away, but he had caught them ganging up on him outside of school, luckily being caught by a teacher before they could do any damage. The blonde had confronted them about it, and ended up getting into another fight with Dutch. He got the worst of it to say the least, and all Johnny got was another black eye. It was worth it though, because they agreed to stay away from Daniel.</p>
<p>Johnny knew Dutch was full of shit and wasn’t going to completely leave him alone. Maybe he wouldn’t full on beat him, but he couldn’t help but shove the kid against the lockers or something whenever he saw him. And that’s what Johnny saw him doing today, before school ended and they had to head over to the dojo for practice. </p>
<p>Johnny stormed in when he got there, ignoring the awkward looks he got from the other students. He had only one thing on his mind, (besides Daniel, those blazing brown eyes still haunting him), and that was telling Dutch off for what felt like the millionth time. Johnny spotted him with the other guys standing around the mat, all of them goofing around. He wanted to slap every single one of them for laughing and joking around with out a single care in the world, but mostly he just wanted to backslap Dutch.</p>
<p>“How many times do I have to fucking ask you to leave LaRusso alone?” Johnny snapped as he walked up to the four boys. Dutch turned around and faced him, that stupid smug look on his face. The other three looked at each other, knowing what was coming next.</p>
<p>“And how many times do I have to tell you that I don’t give a fuck about what you say?” Dutch retorted, crossing his arms as an attempt to be intimidating. He wasn’t. Johnny still wanted to kick his ass.</p>
<p>“Just leave him alone, shithead. I’m not even talking to him anymore.” He decided to tell them since they didn’t seem to notice. It was true, as much as Johnny hated doing it. He knew Daniel couldn’t stand being away from him, and he felt the same way. Being without Daniel made him more on edge than he had ever been before. It just felt like something was missing, and he couldn’t get it back, not without putting Daniel at risk. He’d just have to deal with it.</p>
<p>“Oh, you and your little girlfriend broke up?” Dutch teased, knowing just what to say to provoke Johnny. The blonde looked so pissed that it was almost scary. He was so fucking sick of Dutch and his usual annoying remarks.</p>
<p>“I swear if you don’t shut the fuck up right now-“ Johnny stepped forward, ready to break Dutch’s jaw.</p>
<p>“Make me, bitch.” The two boys got into their fighting positions. Johnny was about to kick him where the sun doesn’t shine, but he was interrupted by someone. Fucking Kreese.</p>
<p>“Enough! I’ve had enough of you two going at it. What’s the damn problem?” Johnny turned around to face his sensei, who he also was starting to get sick of. In the past, he wanted Kreese to be like a father figure to him, but now he felt like he was trapped. Kreese was part of the reason that he couldn’t be with Daniel. The man was dangerous and wouldn’t hesitate to seriously hurt someone. Johnny wouldn’t be surprised if he had killed someone before.</p>
<p>“Nothing, sensei.” The boys said in unison. Kreese had noticed the two weren’t okay with each other like they usually were. He didn’t care to know why, he would if it got in the way of karate, but since it didn’t seem to be doing that right now he couldn’t give two fucks. However, as much as he loved a good fight, it was getting annoying, and a fight might raise a tension and cause (even more) distractions that neither of the students needed.</p>
<p>“That’s what I thought. 50 push-ups. On your knuckles. Now. You can settle your drama on the mat later.” Johnny was used to doing push-ups by now, but he still groaned in frustration. His head was pounding from all the pressure he felt he was under right now. He just wanted Daniel. But that was out of the question.</p>
<p>“I’m going to fucking kill you.” The blonde remarked as him and Dutch began doing their push-ups.</p>
<p>“Not if I kill you first.” Dutch snapped back, glaring daggers into Johnny. The other teen rolled his eyes and just finished his push-ups, which didn’t help his headache. He walked over to the water fountain, only to lean against the wall.</p>
<p>“So what happened with you and LaRusso?” Johnny turned around to see none other than Bobby, the most perceptive person he had ever met. Of course he knew when something was up. He always did. He had caught on to Johnny’s feelings for Daniel, knowing the stubborn idiot would never admit them out loud. He was sort of hoping that would change. He wanted Johnny to be happy.</p>
<p>“None of your business, Bobby.” Bobby raised an eyebrow, picking up on the fact that Johnny was more tense than usual. He felt bad for him. He was too scared to let his guard down or open up to anyone, but when he was with Daniel he seemed different. He seemed happy, relaxed, and just like his life was complete.</p>
<p>“Come on, man. You know I’m not going to judge you.” Johnny narrowed his eyes at Bobby. He still wasn’t going to admit anything. He knew Bobby only had good intentions, but he still couldn’t talk to him, still out of fear that anyone else would find out. </p>
<p>“Nothing happened. Just drop it.” The blonde walked away from his friend, keeping his feelings bottled up like he always did.</p>
<p>Kreese called for them to line up, and despite his killer headache, Johnny obeyed and found himself standing at his usual spot on the mat. For once he was hoping that Kreese wouldn’t pick him to spar with any of the others. Johnny just wasn’t feeling it. And the one thing that would make him feel better wasn’t here. And he would never be here, not ever again.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>Daniel bit his lip as he stared at the front door of the Cobra Kai dojo. He was starting to regret being here. See, Mr. Miyagi was starting to teach him karate (well, in his own way, which was basically doing a bunch of chores, but some great meaning always came out of them), and it was a way to learn self defense. The bullying was still going on, though. Mr. Miyagi had suggested confronting them at the dojo and coming to a truce, and Daniel reluctantly agreed.</p>
<p>Now he was having second thoughts. He knew damn well that Johnny would be in here. At first he had no problem with it, meaning the other boy would have no choice but to pay attention to him. But he was starting to get nervous at the thought of facing him. Daniel was mad at him for ignoring him again, and just wanted them to talk it out. He wanted to understand what was going on with his best friend/the boy he was in love with.</p>
<p>It was too late to back out of going in now, Mr. Miyagi had already opened the door and was waiting for Daniel to follow him. Daniel took a deep breath and walked in after him, immediately pointing out which one of the boys was Johnny, even though he had his back turned. Daniel moved to an angle where he could see Johnny, but where Johnny still wouldn’t be able to see him.</p>
<p>He looked cute, his blonde bangs falling over his eyes, despite the headband he was wearing. Daniel would usually point out about a thousand other things that made him attractive, but something was off today. Johnny’s eyes were glazed over with anger, his face twisted into a mix of a scowl and an uncomfortable look. He also had another black eye. Daniel wondered if it was from another fight with his so-called ‘friends’.</p>
<p>Daniel tore his eyes away from Johnny, but only for a second. He wanted to check out his other surroundings. Some of the students looked proud to be there, others looked angry, and others looked terrified. Daniel quickly found out why, taking notice of their sensei. The man looked strict, and he looked violent, Daniel wouldn’t want to cross his path. The dark haired boy quickly looked away from him and moved his gaze back towards Johnny.</p>
<p>Johnny felt someone staring at him, and don’t ask him how, but his sixth sense kicked in and he knew it was Daniel. He was proved right as he looked towards he door, noticing Daniel standing there along with Mr. Miyagi. He had no idea why they were there, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Daniel.</p>
<p>The other boy felt his heart leap out of his chest when Johnny’s cerulean eyes met his deep brown ones. Any sign of anger was gone and replaced with something else. Guilt, maybe.</p>
<p>The two boys kept their eye contact, neither being able to keep themselves from looking away. Johnny had a blank expression in his face, showing no emotion, when deep down he wanted to run over to Daniel and hug him, tell him he was sorry and that the kiss meant everything, and let him know how much he cared about him. But he couldn’t do that. All he could do was stand there and stare at Daniel’s gorgeous face, his lips slightly parted as they always were and his doe eyes full of emotion. Johnny couldn’t look away, even if he knew he was going to have to stop staring at Daniel if he wanted to stay away from him.</p>
<p>“What is the problem Mr Lawerence?” Johnny had completely forgot that Kreese was talking and he was supposed to be listening. Of course he had gotten lost in staring at Daniel and forgot about everything else, including where exactly they were. This was all going wrong. Daniel wasn’t supposed to be here. He didn’t want Kreese anywhere around him. Johnny nervously glanced at Kreese and then back at Daniel and then back to Kreese, as if it were a reflex. He cursed himself for looking back over there, but it didn’t matter as Kreese had already seen what he was looking at.</p>
<p>“Are you gonna answer or what?” Kreese pressed, keeping his arms crossed and his usual stern expression. Johnny shifted nervously, not being able to speak. Internally, he was freaking out. This was the last place that he wanted Daniel to be. It was like a nightmare come true.</p>
<p>“That’s the guy who jumped us.” Dutch shouted from the other side of the room, a stupid devilish smirk on his face. Johnny had never hated him more.</p>
<p>“Come on, let’s forget this.” The second he heard Dutch’s voice, Daniel wanted to get out of here. That guy was his worst enemy, and he didn’t even know what he did to piss him off.</p>
<p>“Wait. Not yet.” Mr. Miyagi responded, not looking away from Kreese. He knew the guy was a bad teacher and was poisoning the minds of these students, and he wasn’t about to walk away from this.</p>
<p>“Class, we have visitors. Mr Lawerence, you’re coming to the front with me, and the rest of you fall in behind me.” Johnny wanted to scream. What else could possibly go wrong? This whole situation was extremely frustrating. He felt like Kreese knew that he was thinking, and was putting him on the spot. The blonde didn’t protest, though. Instead he did what his sensei said, following behind him fo where he stood in front of Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. Daniel and Johnny quickly made eye contact again, staring intensely at each other.</p>
<p>“I hear you jumped some of my students a few days after Halloween.” Kreese thought he was being intimidating, he was like a worse, more dangerous version of Dutch. Johnny was trying to tune out of the conversation, he wanted to be anywhere but here right now.</p>
<p>“Think facts mixed up.” Mr. Miyagi wasn’t phased by Kreese in the slightest. And Johnny was glad that he wasn’t. But he was still trying not to think about the conversation that was about to happen, endless possibilities trying to pop up in his head.</p>
<p> Instead he kept staring at Daniel, getting lost in those beautiful Bambi eyes. They may not have been talking at the moment, but they still couldn’t look away from each other.</p>
<p>Daniel could see the discomfort in Johnny’s blue eyes, and he didn’t like it. He wanted to know what was making him feel like this, so he could help Johnny. That’s all he wanted.</p>
<p>“You calling my students liars?”</p>
<p>“Come ask leave boy alone.”</p>
<p>“What’s the matter, the boy can’t take care of his own problems?” Johnny had heard enough.  He knew where this was going, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t want Daniel dragged into any of this bullshit. The whole point of avoiding him was to keep him out of this, to keep away from the Cobras and Kreese, and that was all going down the drain.</p>
<p>“Sensei, can we please just-“ The blonde knew he was going to be cut off. Kreese wouldn’t listen to him, he never did.</p>
<p>“Quiet!” Kreese yelled, not even bothering to look at Johnny. He had noticed him and Daniel staring at each other out of the corner of his eye, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t know the context, but he wanted to cause problems between the two.</p>
<p>Both sensei’s continued to have a casual argument, Kreese attempting to get Daniel and Johnny to fight right then and there. Johnny didn’t want too. He never wanted to hurt Daniel. Never.</p>
<p>“Feel like matching, Mr Lawerence?” Johnny wanted to scream fuck this, and grab Daniel by the hand and get him out of here. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. Kreese would end them both.</p>
<p>“No sensei-...I mean-...yes sensei...” The blonde hated this more than anything. He knew he couldn’t fight back to Kreese. There was nothing he could do. He was stuck. Daniel signed as Johnny agreed to that, knowing he didn’t want to do it. He truly didn’t understand.</p>
<p>Luckily, Mr. Miyagi insisted on them settling things somewhere else. Daniel knew he wasn’t referring to him and Johnny, they both knew that. But Kreese would turn it into that.</p>
<p>“Name a place.” There was no getting out of this. They were going to be forced to go against each other.</p>
<p>“Tournament.” Daniel’s mouth flew open as he glanced at the poster behind him, the poster for the All Valley Tournament. He couldn’t believe Mr. Miyagi was suggesting this. He wasn’t nowhere near ready to fight, he had only learned basic moves so far.</p>
<p>“Okay, we’ll go for that. Won’t we, Mr Lawerence?” Of course Kreese had to agree, and now he was trying to provoke Johnny on purpose.</p>
<p>Johnny didn’t know what to say, instead he kept staring at Daniel. Them consistently staring at each other wasn’t awkward at all, though it was full of tension and emotions that Johnny would never say out loud. He knew that Daniel knew how he felt, but he was going to keep denying it as an attempt to keep him safe. And besides, Johnny couldn’t bring himself to talk right now, much to the annoyance of Kreese.</p>
<p>“What the hell is wrong with you today? Just answer my fucking question, damn it.” The man yelled, causing Daniel to jump a little. He was shocked at the sudden change in his tone of voice, and even more shocked when he saw that Johnny wasn’t phased at all by it.</p>
<p>“Yes sensei...” Daniel shook his head wildly at Johnny. He knew neither of them wanted to fight, Daniel didn’t even want to be in this tournament at all. Kreese was making all of their decisions for them. Controlling Johnny’s life like he always did, simply because he was dangerous. He thought life was a constant war.</p>
<p>“Fall in.” Johnny had no choice but to look away from Daniel and fall into a line with the other boys. He looked down at the ground, not wanting to look back at Daniel. Johnny blamed himself for this entire situation. He was the one who dragged Daniel into this mess, which would probably end in him getting hurt again. Why did he have to ruin everything?</p>
<p>He then realized that if the other Cobras thought him and Daniel hated each other, they’d be satisfied and leave him alone. Hopefully. Johnny thought that maybe if he started acting cold towards Daniel, he’d start hating him and that would keep him away. Of course he didn’t want that (quite the opposite, actually), but he didn’t think he had a choice at this point. If Johnny didn’t want to fight him, Kreese would know something was up and probably figure out what was going on. That was a risk that Johnny wasn’t willing to take.</p>
<p>“Any other accommodations I can make for you, sir?” Kreese asked sarcastically. Johnny looked back up at him, glaring at him since he couldn’t see. </p>
<p>“Ask leave boy alone to train.” That wasn’t going to happen and Johnny knew it. But he sure was hoping that Kreese would agree.</p>
<p>“You’re a pushy little bastard, aren’t you? Fine. No one here lays a hand on him until the tournament.” Surprisingly, he did. At least one good thing came out of this dreadful day.</p>
<p>“You here that, Dutch?” Johnny glanced at Dutch, who was on his right. The fellow teen looked furious, and Johnny was loving it. He couldn’t fight the smirk that had formed on his face.</p>
<p>“Fuck off!” Dutch shouted, covering his mouth when he realized how loud he was. Johnny fought the urge to laugh as Kreese turned around and stared at him.</p>
<p>“What did you just say?” Kreese asked, knowing damn well what he had just heard. He was starting to put two and two together. He realized that the reason Johnny and Dutch were fighting was because of Daniel. He wanted to know more, but that was going to have to wait.</p>
<p>“I said yes sensei!” Dutch exclaimed, flicking Johnny off when Kreese wasn’t paying attention. Johnny looked at Daniel, and sighed as he saw him walking out. They were in deep shit now, and Johnny was going to have to go to higher measures to try and keep Daniel safe. If everyone thought that he didn’t care about him, then there wouldn’t be a problem.</p>
<p>And even though it was the opposite of what Johnny wanted to do, he was going to do it because he’d do just about anything to keep Kreese and the other Cobras away from Daniel.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>Daniel was having a nervous breakdown as he followed Mr. Miyagi out of the dojo. So many things were running through his head right now. How the hell was he supposed to fight in the tournament? He was going to have to learn  advanced karate, and fast, if he wanted to stand a chance. Another thing on his mind was what an asshole Johnny’s sensei seemed to be. He didn’t understand how Johnny put up with him.</p>
<p>Lastly, he still wanted to be around Johnny. He was so sick of Johnny ignoring him and acting like they were nothing at all. Daniel felt like he was dying without being around the other boy. But he couldn’t think about that right now. He had to ask Mr. Miyagi what on earth he was thinking when he agreed that they would settle things at the tournament.</p>
<p>“I can’t believe what you just got me into in there!” Daniel exclaimed, genuinely baffled on why this was happening. How could him and Johnny just being ‘friends’ cause this entire mess? There was so many questions that Daniel wanted answers too, but for that Johnny had to talk to him. Which didn’t look like was happening anytime soon.</p>
<p>“Just saved you one month beating.” Mr. Miyagi shrugged, and Daniel facepalmed. That was true, but this whole situation was still crazy. Daniel was already dreading all the chores he knew he was going to have to do to get really good.</p>
<p>“Hey look uh, I’m gonna stay behind and talk to Johnny when he gets out, okay?” Daniel said as Mr. Miyagi got into the drivers seat of his car. He didn’t care how long he had to wait. Johnny was going to talk to him, whether he wanted to or not. Mr. Miyagi nodded and drove off, leaving Daniel there to think.</p>
<p>How was this going to work? Kreese was putting Daniel and Johnny against each other. But Daniel was determined not to let him or anyone else get in between what he wanted to have with Johnny. If only the other teen would learn how to communicate.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>Daniel waited outside of the dojo for what felt like hours. How long did those lessons last? He was generally a patient person, but he really needed to talk to Johnny and felt himself growing more irritated by the minute.</p>
<p>Eventually, the boys started exiting the dojo, chatting and laughing their asses off. Daniel hid behind a parked car so Dutch and the other idiots wouldn’t see him, he didn’t feel like dealing with them right now. He was keeping an eye out for Johnny, though. </p>
<p>The blonde was the last to walk out, feeling more sluggish than usual. He wanted to go home so badly. Today was a long ass day and it was just plain awful. Johnny felt like a failure, feeling like his attempts to keep Daniel far away from Cobra Kai were going down the drain. Daniel could see the lag in his movements, knowing something was up with him. He checked to make sure no one was around before walking up behind Johnny, clearing his throat to get his attention. Johnny didn’t even need to turn around to know it was Daniel. He honestly wasn’t even surprised.</p>
<p>“So you’re back to being an asshole, huh?” The doe-eyed teen questioned, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. Johnny rolled his eyes and turned around, facing the boy that he wanted so damn badly. The boy that he couldn’t have.</p>
<p>“Shut up, LaRusso. I don’t have time for this.” Johnny was going to have to pretend like he didn’t care about him. If the others thought they were enemies, then they wouldn’t have a problem when it came to them. The thing was, it wouldn’t make them happy. Not at all. It wasn’t fair that they had to sacrifice their happiness to protect themselves.</p>
<p>“Oh, so we’re back to last names? You realize we most likely will have to fight each other in the tournament now, right?” Daniel pointed out. That was yet another thing that Johnny didn’t want to do. He knew how dirty Kreese and some of the other Cobras liked to play, and there was no preventing that. No one was going to leave the tournament without an injury.</p>
<p>“Yeah.” Johnny didn’t know what else to say. He turned around and started to walk away. But Daniel, being as persistent as he was, ran in front of him and stopped him.</p>
<p>“Just stop and listen to me for a fucking second! Look man, I’m gettin’ real tired of you acting like this. We need to talk about what happened.” Daniel just wanted him to tell him how he felt. He just wanted them to talk. Then everything would be okay. They would be okay. They would even be together, maybe.</p>
<p>“No we don’t. Nothing happened.” Here we go again with the bullshit, with the lying. Johnny decided to just keep denying everything.</p>
<p>“I know you felt the same as I did when we kissed. You’re the one who kissed me, Johnny. You clearly wanted too.” Daniel pestered, stepping closer to Johnny, who took a step back. He didn’t want to be too close again, looking at where it got them last time.</p>
<p>“Shut up. You don’t even know me! You don’t know what I want!” When will the lies stop? Daniel knew everything about Johnny and Johnny couldn’t stand that. He knew what he was doing the night he let his guard down, and he regretted ever opening up. Now everything was turning to shit like it always did.</p>
<p>“I do know you! I know everything about you! I know that you’re doing this, you’re avoiding me because you’re scared and you’re too damn stubborn to admit it! Instead of dealing with it you’re pushing me away! I don’t know what you’re scared of, because you won’t tell me! Just fucking talk to me, man! Tell me what you’re so fucking afraid of!” Johnny hated how right Daniel was. It was true, he was avoiding him because he was scared. Scared of him getting hurt and it being his fault. Scared of fucking things up with him. Scared of facing his problems and letting his guard down and opening up and everything turning out wrong.</p>
<p>For a moment, Johnny honestly considered it. He considered telling Daniel exactly what was going on and how he felt about him. That he had liked him and been attached to him since the day they met and he wanted to be with him, but he couldn’t because he was petrified of what could happen so that’s why he was pushing him away. He wanted to be honest.</p>
<p>But he didn’t.</p>
<p>“Just shut up! I don’t want to hear it!” The anger in his voice sounded so fake. Daniel was getting tired of his stubbornness. He felt like he was going crazy at this point. And he sort of was.</p>
<p>“Yeah? Then make me shut up, Johnny! Who says we have to wait to the tournament, huh? Go on, make me shut up!” Daniel yelled, gesturing for Johnny to go ahead and fight him. He got closer, his body only inches away from Johnny’s. The fury in his deer eyes was at an extremely high level, there was no doubt that Daniel was hot-headed. Johnny wasn’t going to fight him, not now. There was no way in hell. Daniel knew that too. Fighting wasn’t what he was going for, not on the inside.</p>
<p>Daniel just kept getting impossibly closer, rambling on and out about how they should go ahead and do it. A lot of people got on Johnny’s nerves, but Daniel was about the only one who could drive him absolutely insane.</p>
<p>Johnny felt like he wasn’t in control of his own body. In an instant he grabbed Daniel by the shoulders, roughly pressing his lips against the other boy’s. Daniel kissed him back, wrapping his arms around Johnny’s neck. Their lips overlapped this time, Daniel’s bottom lip being trapped between Johnny’s, causing the blonde to gently bite down. Johnny moved his hands down Daniel’s back, pulling him impossibly closer. This kiss wasn’t like the first one. This one was full of fire and it was rough.</p>
<p>It still felt right. It felt like it was supposed to be happening. But it wasn’t supposed to happen. They were kissing in a public place, after just having a huge argument.</p>
<p>Johnny quickly broke the kiss, realizing just exactly what they were doing. He looked around frantically, making sure no one was around. Thankfully, there wasn’t, but that was way too risky. Daniel wasn’t thinking about the risk, he knew exactly what was going to happen once he started getting close to Johnny. He had his hands on Johnny’s chest now, gripping his shirt tightly.</p>
<p>“Fuck. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” Johnny gripped Daniel’s wrists and unleashed his grip on his shirt. He held them for a second, not wanting to let go of Daniel.</p>
<p>“You wanted too. And so did I. See, what are you so afraid of?” Daniel asked, hoping Johnny would give him an answer this time. He didn’t see the point of them pretending like nothing happened. He didn’t get it.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t mean anything.” Johnny hated himself for lying. He had to act cold now or else this was going to keep happening, Daniel was going to keep trying to get him to talk and it would end up in more arguing, and probably more kissing because they just couldn’t seem to resist each other. This had to stop before anyone got hurt.</p>
<p>“Damn it, Johnny! You can’t keep doing this shit to me. I just want you to be honest with me.” The dark haired teen pleaded. Johnny just took a step back, he didn’t want to be here anymore. He just wanted to go home and isolate himself from everyone. And beat the shit out of his punching bag.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry. I can’t be around you right now.” And probably not any time at all. When he was with Daniel, he couldn’t stop staring at him and he couldn’t stop wanting to kiss him. And when he was with without Daniel, he was all the blonde could think about. He didn’t know which was worst. Either way, he couldn’t have him and he had to stay away.</p>
<p>“You can’t tell me that you don’t want to be with me.” If Johnny said that, he would be lying. He wanted to be with Daniel more than anything. He wanted it so bad. </p>
<p>“I-...I don’t. I can’t.” Johnny could see the hurt that flashed in Daniel’s eyes as the words left Johnny’s lips. He knew he was lying for whatever reason, but it still hurt to hear. Daniel didn’t want to give up. It felt impossible to give up on the boy he was in love with.</p>
<p>“You can’t lie to me, Johnny. I know you do have feelings for me. You’re just being stubborn and not wanting to admit it. You can’t lie to me. Do you think I’m stupid or something, man?” Daniel said harshly, and louder than he wanted to. And it wasn’t a lie, everything Daniel has said during this argument was true. Johnny was never one to admit when he was wrong, he was one hard-headed guy, but for once he wanted too. Why did this have to be so hard? The one thing that he wanted, he couldn’t have.</p>
<p>“Just leave me alone, LaRusso.” Johnny walked away then, feeling himself tear up once Daniel couldn’t see his face anymore. He wouldn’t let the tears fall, though. That was a sign of weakness, and he was doing his best to not be weaker than he already felt. Fear was something he hated and he was giving it to it, and he was doing it all for Daniel.</p>
<p>Daniel was his weakness. And if anyone found that out, they’d both be in trouble.</p>
<p>“Fine. Keep pretending there’s nothing between us when we both know there is. I’ll play along.” Daniel yelled as Johnny continued to walk away. Johnny stopped walking for a second, biting his lip and shutting his eyes. This was one of the hardest things he ever had to do. Why did things always have to be so complicated?</p>
<p>“Damn you.” Daniel muttered as Johnny walked to his car and got in, driving off. He realized it had started raining, like a cliche scene in a crappy romance movie. Daniel sort of didn’t mind, and decided to walk home in the middle of it. </p>
<p>As mad as he was at Johnny, the blonde idiot still wouldn’t leave his mind. Daniel still loved him and he knew that he wasn’t going to stop. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to give up. He was hoping that in time, Johnny would realize that ignoring him wasn’t the answer and it was only causing more problems. Daniel decided to give him some time before trying to talk to him again. Maybe he’d change his mind.</p>
<p>For Johnny, it was a lose-lose situation. If he was with Daniel, he was putting him at risk of getting hurt. If he wasn’t, then they both had to suffer. He was going with the first one. But there’s just only so much that one person can take. Everyone had a breaking point, and he sure as hell was getting close to his own.</p>
<p>Why do things always have to be so complicated?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I’m not too happy about how this one turned out, but that might be because it’s just angst XD I can’t wait to get back to the fluff. I hope you guys didn’t hate this chapter too much, just hang in there and things will get good again, I promise &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8 - In Too Deep</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Another chapter of angst :( this a the last one though, the last chapter is back to fluff :D</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s been a week. A fucking week since Daniel and Johnny last spoke and Daniel was completely miserable. He missed Johnny more than anything. He couldn’t stop thinking about the last time they talked, and he couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss. Daniel couldn’t forget the way that Johnny’s lips felt on his, he couldn’t forget his touch or his face or anything at all. He couldn’t forget Johnny.</p><p>He wanted too, though. Daniel felt like he was dying. He longed to talk to Johnny again, to _}at least just be around him. It would be nice to feel the other boy’s arms around him and feel the warmth from his touch again, but that didn’t seem like it was going to happen anytime soon. It was hard for Daniel to see Johnny in the hallways at school everyday, knowing he couldn’t talk to him. Johnny would just walk away anyways. It seemed like the blonde was purposely going out of his way to avoid him.</p><p>Johnny was suffering too. He was angrier than he had ever been and he didn’t even feel like getting out of bed anymore. He never knew what it felt like to be lost or broken or any of that soft bullshit, but now he had experienced something great, something real. And that was Daniel. Now that he was without him, lost was the only word to describe how he was feeling. It wasn’t like Johnny didn’t want to be around him, he did, he wanted Daniel back so badly, it was like he was craving him. The doe-eyed boy was addicting and Johnny couldn’t deny how much he wanted him. He couldn’t stop wanting him.</p><p>But again, he couldn’t have Daniel. He realized how cold he was being, he knew it was only causing the two of them pain, but being hurt emotionally and temporarily was different than being seriously injured or even killed, which would happen if they got together and everyone found out. Johnny was already terrified enough of how Kreese recently started acting towards him and the other Cobras, it was like he was preparing them for war. The tournament was going to go wrong, very wrong. Johnny couldn’t imagine what Kreese would do if he lost. He knew Kreese was going to make him play dirty, and he wasn’t looking forward to it one bit. Half of Johnny still wanted to win, out of habit, but the other half of him didn’t want to fight at all. Johnny wasn’t looking forward to fighting Daniel, especially knowing how dirty Kreese liked to play. Still though, there was a fine difference between fighting someone in the tournament and fighting them in the real world.</p><p>Daniel leaned against his locker, doing his best not to slam his head against it. He wanted to get Johnny off his mind, the blonde was driving him crazy. Johnny pissed him off like you wouldn’t believe, yet Daniel was in love with him, and was still thinking of ways to convince Johnny that they belonged together. If only Johnny would stop walking away every time he saw him...</p><p>“Hey, are you okay?” Daniel hadn’t even realized that Ali had approached him. He turned around to face her, doing his best not to groan at the smile on her face. He wasn’t in the mood for her flirting right now. The dark haired boy wasn’t interested in Ali at all. The only person he wanted to be with was Johnny. It may have been out of the question, but he still didn’t want to date anyone else. Especially someone who was Johnny’s ex.</p><p>“Oh yeah...I’m just peachy...” Daniel lied, not being able to look into her hazel eyes. Ali knew something was up, and she had a feeling that Johnny was behind it. The two had been joined at the hip, and now it seemed like they wanted to be as far away from each other as possible. (Which was not the case at all).</p><p>“Really? You seem sad.” Ali tried to get him to tell her what was wrong. She was starting to have suspicions about his ‘friendship’ with Johnny, but she couldn’t think of any reason why.</p><p>“I said I’m fine, Ali.” Daniel hated how annoyed he sounded. He might’ve been a hothead, but he still tried to be polite to people, especially the ones who cared about him. But Daniel wasn’t feeling like socializing at all, not right now.</p><p>“Okay...well, my country club is having a pre-Thanksgiving party tonight...I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?” Honestly, Ali had a huge crush on him, and she wanted him there so she could try and get with him. Daniel didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to do anything. The only thing he had been doing lately is practicing karate so he could stand a chance in the tournament (and he was getting pretty good at it). He had no desire to go anywhere fun or do anything, not without Johnny. He was the only reason he liked living here in California, and now that he was gone Daniel was wishing they were back in Jersey.</p><p>“No offense, but I don’t think they’d want some Reseda kid there.” Daniel remarked, trying to make up an excuse, any excuse at all, to tell her he didn’t want to go to the party without making her feel like she got rejected. Ali looked a little offended that he said that, but she brushed it off, figuring he was having a bad day or something. More like a bad almost two weeks.</p><p>“Well...I can sneak out and we could just hang out outside? How does that sound?” Ali wasn’t going to give up so easily, and Daniel knew that. He decided to just agree to go so she’d go away. Maybe it would be good to hang out with someone else, just as friends of course. Daniel didn’t really have any other friends here.</p><p>“Uh...okay...” Daniel smiled in a fake way, but Ali was so excited that she didn’t even notice the strain in his voice.</p><p>“Yay! It’s a date then!” Ali kissed his cheek before skipping off, happy to have what she wanted. Daniel wanted to bang his head against the locker until he passed out. He didn’t agree to it being a date, but he probably should’ve expected it. It didn’t change anything, he didn’t think of Ali in that way at all. She was a good friend, sure, but his heart belonged to someone else. His heart belonged to Johnny, and only Johnny.</p><p>“Wait what? Damn it...” Daniel cursed to himself, regretting this entire day. He started thinking of ways to get out of going out with Ali. He could think of a million bullshit excuses that he could use to get out of this situation. </p><p>That was until he heard a certain voice in the middle of a crowded hallway. Johnny’s voice. Daniel hid behind his locker to avoid being seen. He knew listening in was a bit intruding, but he was curious. The main reason though, was because he had missed Johnny’s voice. </p><p>“I can’t believe my mom is making me go to the stupid country club party tonight. It’s so fucking stupid.” Johnny walked down the hallway, feeling like shit, he had been ever since he stopped talking to Daniel. And it was like new things keep coming up to make his life even more unhappy. Bobby seemed to be the only one out of his ‘friends’ that would put up with his bitching, and that’s why he was walking beside him and listening to him complain about the country club party that his mom was making him attend.</p><p>“Oh come on man, it won’t be that bad.” Bobby had no idea how much Johnny hated these things. His mom, Laura, always wanted to go and make him dress up all nice so she could impress her rich friends. It’s been that way ever since she married Sid. At home, he was an asshole and their family was highly dysfunctional. But on the outside, they made everyone think that they were perfect, and everyone bought it. Just because you dress nice and have a bunch of cash doesn’t mean you’re happy. And wearing a tux and putting on an exaggerated grin didn’t mean he liked being at the stupid country club. Johnny could care less about those things.</p><p>Johnny would always put up with them to make his mom happy, though. It’s the least he could do. He was always polite to the adults there, even though they were all a bunch of stuck-up rich folks.</p><p>“Trust me, it will.” The difference was that for the past two weeks he’s been lost and he had to fight the urge to lash out at everyone. That was why tonight was going to be particularly hard to do. Johnny could do it though, he had made it this far. All he had to do was not think of Daniel and what a terrible situation he was in right now.</p><p>Johnny and Bobby’s conversation continued as they walked down the hallway and out of Daniel’s earshot. Now Daniel actually kind of wanted to go to the country club. He thought that maybe he could confront Johnny there, even though he was supposed to meet Ali outside. Not going to happen, not if it’s going to be a date. But Johnny would be shocked if he saw him there, and maybe if he found out that Ali invited him he’d get jealous and finally admit his feelings. Either way, it would surprise him and probably leave him staring at Daniel in a daze. So Daniel was going to do it, if Johnny was going to act like he was allergic to him, then he could show up and leave him stunned. What could go wrong?</p><p>~</p><p>So much was going wrong, Johnny thought as Laura excitably rambled on during the entire car ride. Johnny wasn’t in the mood for it. He was frustrated and the tight suit she made him wear wasn’t helping either. He wasn’t doing a good job at hiding the fact that he wasn’t enthusiastic about going to this stupid party.</p><p>“Stop moping, baby. It’s not that bad.” Laura had said as they walked in, noticing the frown on Johnny’s face and the sadness in his blue eyes. Sid had disappeared the second they got there, probably to go get a drink like he always did. Johnny was glad that he wasn’t around them. The problem was, he told himself that he wasn’t going to think about Daniel tonight, but the dark haired boy was all that was on his mind and he couldn’t get him out of it. Why couldn’t the little twerp just stay out of his mind? Why couldn’t he just forget him? Johnny had never felt this way about anyone before. Not even Ali. He hated feeling this way. He hated that he couldn’t go for the person that made him happy, simply because it would cause too many unneeded and dangerous problems. Daniel was the thing that finally made him feel complete, and now Johnny felt completely lost without him, having no direction in his life.</p><p>“I told you I didn’t want to come.” Johnny mumbled quietly, so only Laura could hear. She sighed at the bitterness in his voice. Laura hated it when he got like this, especially since she knew he hated talking about his feelings. She was still going to ask though, since it was the motherly thing to do.</p><p>“Okay. Somethings wrong with you. What’s wrong, sweetie? You can talk to me.” The blonde knew that she would listen, but he couldn’t talk to her. What was he supposed to say? That he had a crush on another boy, but he couldn’t be with him because boys weren’t supposed to like other boys and it could be dangerous if they were together. Especially considering the fact that the other Cobras and Kreese showed no mercy to people they hated, and they hated Daniel and would hate him even more if they found out that he liked Johnny, because they especially hated people like that. Johnny wasn’t gay or anything, or even sure if he found guys besides Daniel attractive, but that didn’t matter because he still liked a boy and that was bad. Not to mention the fact that him and Daniel had already kissed, but Johnny realized it was a mistake and it was going to cause problems so he tried to cut it off, only to run back and kiss him again, but decided to be cold and to push him away and left him there like they were nothing at all.</p><p>Yeah, that wasn’t the type of shit he could tell his mother in the middle of a sophisticated country club party.</p><p>“Nothings wrong, mom.” A lie. Just like the smile he knew he was going to have to plaster on later. Just like the fake politeness he was going to have to show off, just for the benefit of others. He felt like he was doing everything for the benefit of others.</p><p>“John. I gave birth to you, I know when somethings wrong.” Laura placed a supportive hand on his shoulder, trying to reassure him that it was okay, he could talk to her and she was going to listen.</p><p>“I’m fine. I just don’t want to be here, okay?” Johnny couldn’t do it. Not here, not anywhere, actually. It wasn’t going to do any good, the way he saw it, talking about your feelings didn’t get you anywhere. Laura sighed, knowing it was no use to continue to pry. She just decided to leave him alone for now.</p><p>“It’ll be over before you know it. Just go sit over there, okay? I’m going to go find Sid.” Laura smiled softy at him before walking away, over to her fake rich friends. Johnny rolled his eyes and walked to the table where she told him to go.</p><p>“Yeah, whatever.” He was hoping not to run into Ali or her parents, since they would most likely be here too. He knew they were going to try and initiate something between the two of them, even though they had broken up a while back. Johnny hadn’t even thought about her at all recently, only when he thought about how much he hated the thought of her and Daniel being together. Every other thought he had of Ali was gone the second he saw Daniel on the beach that night.</p><p>Of course, Johnny’s hopes went down the drain as he saw Ali’s mom approaching the table. Damn it.</p><p>~</p><p>Daniel had rode his bike to the country club, not wanting to let his mom know what he was up too. She would definitely be against it, for many reasons.</p><p>The dark haired teen didn’t care, though. He had thought about it carefully, and decided that he was going to give Johnny one last chance to be completely honest with him about everything in this entire situation, and to talk to him about whatever was going on with him. He’d had enough time. If he still didn’t confess, Daniel was going to give up and try to forget him. As hard as that may be.</p><p>He took a deep breath as he made his way into the country club, ignoring the weird looks he got from judgemental rich people. He hadn’t even bothered to dress nice, just wearing his usual attire.</p><p>Daniel’s only goal was to find Johnny. And that’s what he was going to do. Find him, get him alone, and hopefully be able to talk things out. He really didn’t want to give up on him. Johnny was the first and only person that Daniel felt this way about, Daniel knew he was special and he didn’t want to lose that. He was determined not to lose that.</p><p>~</p><p>Johnny put on a fake smile as Mrs. Mills sat across from him, grinning way too brightly at him. He noticed Ali dancing with her dad out of the corner of his eye, and he bit the inside of his cheek in frustration, knowing what was coming next.</p><p>“Johnny! It’s been so long! Are you and Ali having problems?” Mrs. Mills asked. Johnny and Ali had always been the picture perfect couple, both rich and blonde and pretty, and she thought that that they were the perfect match. But things like that didn’t make the perfect match. She simply wanted Ali to be with him because he was rich and handsome, and that wasn’t right. Both of them should be able to be with whoever the hell they wanted. It didn’t always work like that, though, when the person you really want can’t be with you.</p><p>“No ma’am, we haven’t talked in a while. Things are fine.” Johnny was hoping she would just drop it. He didn’t want to get back with Ali anymore. He would always care about her, since she had been his first love, but he didn’t love her anymore. The blonde wanted to be with Daniel. His feelings for him hadn’t changed at all, and he felt like they would never change, even though he had to keep denying them.</p><p>“That doesn’t sound fine to me. You two lovebirds should be slow dancing right now.” No. Just no. That would be awkward for so many reasons. They both liked the same guy being the main reason, although Ali didn’t know what Johnny liked him. She probably wouldn’t keep her mouth shut if he did.</p><p>“I don’t think that’s going to happen, Mrs. Mills.” Please take that, Johnny thought. He didn’t know what else to say to get her to back off without being rude and giving her the brutal truth. Mrs. Mills rolled her eyes and grabbed Johnny’s wrist, pulling him up. </p><p>“Well, why don’t you dance with me instead?” She suggested, really planning to dance over to where Ali was and push the two of them together. To Johnny, that sounded like less of a question and more of an order, so he was going to have to do it, no matter how much he didn’t want too.</p><p>“Yes ma’am.” He took her hand and led her to where everyone else was dancing. Johnny never really liked slow dancing with older people. It was weird and they always wanted to do the classic slow dance, where the guy had his hand on the girls waist and she had her hand on his shoulder, and they were holding hands. It was weird.</p><p>Johnny wishes it was Daniel that he was dancing with. It would be so much better and he would be so comfortable, having the other boy in his arms. Just the two of them, so close and with no other worries in the world. It wouldn’t have been forced in the slightest.</p><p>But that wasn’t an option. Instead he watched as Mrs. Mills practically dragged him over to Ali. Johnny internally groaned, he honestly should’ve expected her to pull something like this. He wanted to say fuck it and walk out, but he couldn’t do that in front of everyone. Screw rich people and their high standards.</p><p>“Yeah dad, he’s really cute. He’s got dark brown hair and brown eyes and I think he likes me-“ Johnny felt sick as he quickly realized who she was talking about. Daniel, even though her description was basic, Johnny could still recognize it from anywhere. He wanted to scream and punch something. He hated the thought of her being with Daniel, it made him want to die. Johnny really wanted to be with him, but he couldn’t, and it wasn’t fair that Ali could. It made him angry that it would be so easy for them.  </p><p>“Honey, you’ve been ignoring the best looking man here long enough. I think it’s time you danced with him.” Mrs. Mills practically pushed Johnny and Ali together, she was really forcing them to slow dance. The two teens both looked displeased, neither wanting to be that close with each other. Ali glared at her parents as she was practically shoved into Johnny’s arms. Johnny couldn’t glare at them, but he was violently cursing them out on the inside.</p><p>Mr and Mrs Mills smiled triumphantly to each other and danced away from Ali and Johnny, still staying close enough so they could watch the ‘lovebirds’. Ali and Johnny looked at each other as they found themselves getting into a slow dancing position, against their own will of course. Johnny had a blank expression on his face, and Ali looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here, with him.</p><p>“Hi.” Johnny had no emotion in his voice. He felt like he had hit rock bottom. Why couldn’t he be slow dancing with Daniel right now instead of her?</p><p>“Hi.” Ali replied, not hiding the fact that she was unhappy to be with him. Johnny didn’t care, being with her was no picnic either. He decided to use this to his advantage and ask her about Daniel.</p><p>“So um...you like Daniel, huh?” Johnny questioned, realizing he sounded kind of annoyed and bitter. Ali rolled her eyes, thinking he was jealous that she liked someone else. That wasn’t the case. He was jealous because of the thought of Daniel liking someone else, putting his hands on someone else, kissing someone else, dating someone else-...those thoughts ust tore him up inside.</p><p>“It’s not any of your business.” Ali snapped, almost breaking away from the dance. Johnny didn’t mind that she wanted to end it, he wanted to get away from her too, even though he wanted some answers.</p><p>“Ali.” Mrs Mills warned, causing Ali to reluctantly put her hand back on Johnny’s shoulder and continue the slow dance.</p><p>“I was just asking, that’s all.” Johnny whispered, sounding a bit sad. Ali thought he was pathetic, she thought it was pitiful that he was jealous.</p><p>“If you’re jealous because I moved on, you need to get over it.” Ali said back, not meeting his eyes. Johnny was pissed that she even suggested that, but he didn’t show it. Again, he was jealous because she had a chance with Daniel, she could easily be with him but he couldn’t.</p><p>“Believe me, that’s the opposite of why I’m jealous.” Johnny mumbled, hoping she wouldn’t have heard that. But she did. And she was confused.</p><p>“What?” Ali started to think about how much time they were spending together, the fact that Johnny had his arm around Daniel when she ran into them at Golf N Stuff, the way they looked at each other...no, it wasn’t possible. Johnny didn’t like Daniel, right?</p><p>Speaking of Daniel, he had found a way into the country club and was making his way through the kitchen, trying to find out where Johnny was. He heard classical music coming from the next room, and decided to check it out and see if he was in there. People in the kitchen sent him questionable gazes, but Daniel couldn’t give two shits.</p><p>He walked to the door, looking out into the other room. Daniel’s eyes scanned the room, looking for a certain blonde. He quickly spotted which one was Johnny, even though he had his back turned, and he looked like he was slowly moving.</p><p>That’s when Daniel realized something that he really fucking hated.</p><p>Johnny and Ali were slow dancing, their hands interlocked, his hand on her waist and hers on his shoulder. As they turned to the side, Daniel could see that Johnny didn’t really look happy to be there, and neither did Ali. Why the fuck were they slow dancing, then? Daniel could see Ali whisper something, but he couldn’t hear what it was.</p><p>“Johnny?” Ali had a bunch of questions for him now. Maybe that explained why he seemed so sad.</p><p>They turned to where Ali’s back was towards Daniel and Johnny was facing him. He didn’t see him at first, but of course that sixth sense kicked in and he saw Daniel out of the corner of his eye. </p><p>Johnny’s eyes widened and his lips slightly parted, he wasn’t expecting to see Daniel within ten miles of this place. Did they just happen to run into each other everywhere they went? Great, now they were going to have yet another staring contest.</p><p>Daniel looked shocked too, but mostly upset. The dark haired teen hated the sight of Johnny slow dancing with someone else, especially Ali, his ex. He wanted to be the one in Ali’s place, feeling the warmth of Johnny’s hand in his own, his soft lips only being inches away. But no, Ali was the one dancing with him. And it wasn’t fair.</p><p>Johnny was panicking at this point. Once again, Daniel was somewhere that he wasn’t supposed to be. It was like he was everywhere.  The blonde felt like he was under so much pressure right now. Ali’s parents were staring at them, waiting for something to happen. They could probably see that he was staring at something else. His focus wasn’t on Ali at all.</p><p>And he was terrified of Ali finding out. What if she told everyone? He knew she was starting to catch on, and she noticed he was looking up and away from her. Ali was started to turn around to see what he was looking at, but Johnny couldn’t let that happen. He didn’t feel like he had a choice in what he was about to do.</p><p>Johnny pulled Ali in and kissed her, not wanting to do it at all, and hating every minute of it. He didn’t feel anything, not anymore. When he kissed Daniel, there were fireworks. When he kissed Ali, it was just lips. Johnny did not want to be doing this, not at all. He wanted to be kissing Daniel instead.</p><p>But he felt like he had to do this, he felt like he had to kiss Ali even if it was the last thing he wanted to do. Johnny felt like he had to prove something, to prove that he didn’t have feelings for Daniel. And he knew everyone expected him to be with someone like Ali. Everyone else was making decisions for him.</p><p>Daniel felt betrayed, hurt, and livid. He looked away in disgust at the sight, ready to walk away and leave. His mind was racing and he couldn’t handle it. This hurt more than he could’ve ever imagined. He finally knew what a broken heart felt like.</p><p>Did Johnny ever really want to be with him at all, or was it all about getting back at Ali? If it was, then that mean everything was fake. The smiles, the touches, the kisses, the confessions, everything. How could he have led him on like that?</p><p>Ali didn’t want to kiss Johnny either, she pushed him off and he let her. Johnny hated himself for doing that. He knew Daniel was probably distraught from what he just saw. Johnny had really done it now, he succeeded in pushing him away. And it devastated him that he had to do it.</p><p>The second Ali looked away, a loud bang came from the kitchen. Johnny looked over her, wanting to slap himself when he saw what happened. Daniel was on the floor, his clothes covered in spaghetti or something.</p><p>As Daniel had turned around to storm away, he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and ran straight into a busboy, who was unfortunately carrying a huge ass plate of spaghetti. It fucking burned. And even worse, the crash had caused the door to open.</p><p>Everyone turned their attention to Daniel, and suddenly the room wasn’t quiet with only the sound of classical music anymore. All of the ‘mature’ adults started laughing, everyone there was laughing at Daniel. Even Ali was holding back her laughter. Everyone was laughing except for Johnny. Johnny looked petrified.</p><p>“Oh shit...” Johnny trailed off, picking up at how flustered and pissed off Daniel was feeling. The doe-eyed boy stared directly at him, his sudden glare of rage deepening. Daniel stood up, taking a few steps closer to Johnny and Ali.</p><p>“Daniel? I told you to wait outside!” Ali exclaimed, covering her mouth. Johnny couldn’t tell if it was out of shock or because she was trying to hide the fact she was nearly laughing at him. The cerulean-eyed teen realized what she said, meaning Daniel was meeting her here, but he didn’t care about that. All he felt was pure and utter guilt and regret.</p><p>Daniel didn’t care about what Ali had to say. He was at his breaking point and he had never hated Johnny more than he did in this moment. He was about to lash out on him, he’d kept the anger and frustration bottled up and he was about to explode.</p><p>“Really, Johnny? You’re doing this now?” Daniel yelled, his glare burning into Johnny. The blonde looked down at the ground, guilt only worsening. He had made yet another stupid decision and had fucked everything up. It didn’t feel right.</p><p>“You know man, I thought you were different. I thought you were more than just the typical Encino Hills asshole. But I was wrong, I guess. You’re just another asshole who doesn’t give a shit about anyone but yourself. You’re a coward. And I guess you never cared about me at all. I fucking hate you.” Johnny cringed at his words, trying not to tear up when he heard the last part. Daniel didn’t mean that, but he was too angry to care about anything. Deep down he knew Johnny was different. He was unlike all of those other fakes, he was sweet, caring, and just a plain angel (when he wasn’t being a tease). And he didn’t hate Johnny, not in the slightest. He fucking loved him with everything he had.</p><p>“Don’t ever talk to me again, I mean it!” The dark haired teen turned around and stormed out, bumping into people on the way but not giving a shit. He was done right now.</p><p>Johnny was hurt by everything that Daniel said. He didn’t want Daniel to hate him, but what did he expect when he kissed Ali right in front of him?</p><p>Johnny knew Daniel was right, like he always was. And that’s when he realized two things.</p><p>He was being a real coward when he thought he was doing what was best. He wasn’t. Johnny was only hurting himself and Daniel. Keeping his feelings inside was only making him feel worse. He had spent so much time worrying about what everyone would do if they found out, that he had forgotten what was truly important. Daniel’s happiness and his own happiness. Fuck what everyone else thought. Kreese, Sid, and the Cobras could all go fuck themselves. Daniel was all that mattered to him and he had pushed him away. Pushing Daniel away didn’t feel right. Kissing him and touching him had felt right. He had to get Daniel back right now. He had to undo everything that he had done out of fear. Johnny knew he was going to have to open up to Daniel if he didn’t want to lose him. And he would, because losing Daniel would be like losing a part of himself.</p><p>The second thing he realized? Johnny realized that he was deeply in love with Daniel LaRusso.</p><p>“Ali, are those two fighting over you?” The blonde teen turned around and saw Mrs. Mills asking Ali a bunch of questions that she didn’t know the answer too. The woman needed to give it a rest. She couldn’t force something that wasn’t there. Just like Johnny couldn’t force himself to stay away from Daniel.</p><p>“No, it’s not about Ali. It was never about Ali.” Johnny answered for her, causing the entire Mills family to look at him, baffled at what he just said. It was never about Ali. It was always about Daniel.</p><p>Johnny knew what he had to do. And that was to get the hell out of here and find Daniel, and apologize for everything that he just did. He’d make it up to him, and hopefully Daniel would forgive him and they would be able to work things out.</p><p>“Johnny-“ Ali started to talk, but Johnny was already walking towards the exit, putting everything else behind him. He almost didn’t realize that Laura had witnessed the entire situation and was now standing in front of him.</p><p>“Where are you going?” Laura asked, wanting to know what the hell was happening. Her curiosity was driving her crazy. Johnny didn’t have time to answer her questions right now, just this one and he was leaving, going to find his boy.</p><p>“I’m going after him.” Johnny answered, moving past her and continuing to walk towards the door.</p><p>“That Reseda boy? What’s he to you?” Laura was genuinely confused. She had no idea what was going on here. Johnny stopped in his tracks at her question. That would take hours to explain. Instead he gave her a short, direct answer.</p><p>“More than you could ever understand.” And with that, Johnny left.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I’m not really satisfied with this chapter either, but again that might be because it’s all angst XD I hope you guys liked it even though it was sad, next one will be much happier though. Have a good day ppl!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9 - It Was Always You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>We’re back to the fluff &lt;3 our boys finally talk things out</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh boy, this one was longer than I expected. I didn’t proofread this one either, it’s literally 4am where I’m at. I hope there’s no weird errors or anything. Oh well, at least things are back to fluffy XD</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Daniel wanted to run as far away from Encino Hills as he could. Far away from Johnny. But he couldn’t, his legs wouldn’t take him farther than just the side of the building. He hated the fact his emotional state right now was affecting his physical state. He just couldn’t bring himself to run and get out of here, he’d completely forgotten that he took his bike.</p><p>It’s probably better not to ride a bike while your vision is blurred from tears, anyways.</p><p>Daniel told himself he wouldn’t cry if this didn’t work out. He’s not worth it, he said, it can’t possibly hurt that much, he said. But it did. It hurt like hell. Daniel couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. He felt like a thirteen year old girl that had just gotten ditched on her first date.</p><p>But it wasn’t like that. This, this was real love.</p><p>The deer-eyed teen just stood there, looking down at the ground with his arms crossed around his stomach. He was silently sobbing, even though no one else was around to see/hear him.</p><p>What did Ali have that he didn’t? Did Johnny just use him to get back at her the whole time? Was everything fake? The looks, the touches, the kisses, all fake? Johnny had even gone as far as losing his friendship with Dutch over this. Did she matter that much?</p><p>No, she didn’t. It was never about Ali, it was always about Daniel, Johnny thought as he ran down the street, looking around to see if Daniel was still here. The kid was fast, Johnny was hoping he hadn’t already booked it out of here and was around here somewhere.</p><p>He was, Johnny could feel it. The blonde looked around and saw him on the side of the building, his back turned towards him and he looked like he was looking down. Johnny knew he was really upset, he might even be crying.</p><p>At that thought, Johnny ran up to him, but stopped a few feet away, hearing sobs that were practically silent. He felt even worse hearing that, knowing it was his fault.</p><p>“Danny.” Johnny was half expecting Daniel to turn around, see him, and then punch him, but he didn’t. He just froze. He didn’t need to turn around to know it was Johnny, he’d recognize that voice from anywhere. Truthfully, Daniel would’ve liked to turn around and punch him, but he couldn’t move. He was stuck.</p><p>“What the hell do you want? I thought I told you to leave me alone.” Daniel had tried to make that sound threatening, but it just sounded pitiful since he’d been sobbing. Johnny winced at the tone of his voice, hating himself even more by the second.</p><p>“I’m so sorry.” The blonde didn’t know what else to say. He was never good at words when it came to expressing emotions like this. Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time he apologized for anything (other than that time at the Halloween dance). Daniel let out a dry laugh and turned around, fully aware that there were small tear stains on his face. Couldn’t be any worse than the spaghetti that his clothes were still covered in.</p><p>“You’re sorry? That’s funny. You know, you’ve got some nerve, man.” Daniel sneered, giving Johnny a death stare. He didn’t know if he could believe him. The look on Johnny’s face was sincere, and there was guilt in his blue eyes, but Daniel still didn’t know if he was actually sorry.</p><p>“No listen, I’m so fucking sorry for what I did. I know I fucked up, but-“ But I’ll make it up to you. And I love you. I’ll never do it again, Johnny wanted to say, but wasn’t sure if he was going to really say it. He didn’t get too even finish, though. Daniel had already cut him off.</p><p>“Yeah, you fucked up big time.” Daniel agreed, letting his temper get the best of him. He was too mad at Johnny right now to care about how much he regretted it. He had a chance to be honest about everything, but he blew it.</p><p>“I know...” Johnny was doing his best not to tear up. He couldn’t handle having Daniel hate him. It was hard for Johnny to open up to people, but he wished he could go back in time and tell Daniel the complete truth about...well, about everything.</p><p>“Why did you do it? Why did you kiss her right in front of me? Were you just using me to get back at her?” Daniel had about a million questions that he needed answers too. Part of him wanted to say fuck it and not even hear what Johnny has to say, but the other part of him, the part that was still madly in love with Johnny and wanted to be with him, wanted to stay and listen.</p><p>“No! Hell no. Everything with you was real. It-...it felt more real than anything. I ignored you, I kissed her because I was-...I-...I was trying to push you away. I’m sorry.” Johnny wanted to not believe that Daniel thought all of that had been an act. If it had been, he wouldn’t have kicked Dutch’s ass so much. Johnny hated to admit it, but he probably would’ve just let them beat him if he didn’t care about Daniel. But he wasn’t that guy anymore. He wanted to be honest, he wanted Daniel to trust him and give him a chance to make things right. He wouldn’t push him away, not anymore.</p><p>“Trying to push me away? Why can’t you just talk to me?” Daniel was confused. So Johnny didn’t like Ali, he was just trying to push him away? He didn’t get it. Johnny had talked to him about things before, why was that changing now? Was he just scared of commitment or something? He didn’t get why Johnny couldn’t just talk to him, and why he was trying to push him away.</p><p>“I will. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” That was a big leap for Johnny. He had never felt this vulnerable around anyone. This would be the first time he’s ever said that, and actually meant anything. He would tell Daniel anything.</p><p>“What are you so scared of? And don’t you dare lie and you aren’t. Just be honest for once and admit you’re scared.” Daniel was stubborn, so Johnny knew it would take a lot to win him back. He would have to actually tell him about his feelings, he couldn’t get away with just showing him with presents and kisses. It wouldn’t work like that. They had to communicate.</p><p>“I was scared, okay? I was fucking terrified. Is that what you wanted to hear?” Johnny realized he sounded bitter. Admitting fear and weakness was something he hated. But it was something he would be willing to do if it meant he got to be with Daniel.</p><p>“What the hell are you so scared of?” Daniel asked, he couldn’t think of anything other than people usually weren’t okay with gay people. But it wasn’t like they had to tell anyone. Johnny sighed and looked down at the grass, trying not to feel shame for admitting to Daniel that he was scared.</p><p>“Many things. I’m scared of you getting hurt because of me. I’m scared of fucking up the only good thing I have. I’m scared of letting my guard down. And most of all, I’m scared of losing you.” Surprisingly, Johnny didn’t feel as embarrassed as he thought he would be. He wasn’t mad at himself for opening up. Daniel understood what he meant, for the most part. He didn’t quite understand the context, but he was going to find out.</p><p>“Why would I get hurt because of you? If you’re talking about your little goons-“ It was so much more than them. Dutch was nothing compared to Kreese or Sid, mostly Kreese since Sid didn’t even know Daniel existed. Johnny decided to tell Daniel the truth about Kreese, even though he wasn’t ready to fully admit to himself that the man was one-hundred percent bad.</p><p>“It’s not just them. It’s my sensei too, and Sid and everyone else. They’d be pissed if they found out how I felt about you, you don’t even want to know the things they’d probably do.” Johnny shuddered at the thought what Kreese would do. He was the main problem. Daniel understood even more now. That Kreese guy was dangerous, and Johnny was scared of him finding out and doing something horrible.</p><p>“And how do you feel about me?” Daniel questioned, even though he already knew the answer. He just wanted reassurance, but he also just wanted to hear Johnny say it out loud. </p><p>“I-...I like you. I don’t know how to put what I feel for you in words. But you already knew that, didn’t you?” Like was an understatement. Johnny wasn’t sure if he could say ‘love’ just yet. Sure, he had said it to Ali, but that was different. He hadn’t fucked things up yet. Although Johnny was sure he was more in love with Daniel than he’d ever been with Ali, he still didn’t know if he should say it or not. What if Daniel didn’t feel the same? What if he had blew all of his chances? That would hurt like hell.</p><p>“Yeah. I just wanted to hear it out loud.” Daniel admitted, smiling to try to lighten the mood. He still wasn’t sure if he’d give Johnny another chance. The dark haired boy had told himself his last chance would be in the country club, but now that Johnny had been honest with him he was having second thoughts. Johnny smiled back, but it quickly turned back into a frown. He felt awful for what he’s been doing and decided to say more.</p><p>“I’m sorry for everything I did. I just didn’t want you to get hurt because of me. I let what everyone else think get in the way of what I really wanted, and that was you. I’m done letting everyone else make decisions for me. I want to be with you, Danny. I always have. It’s always been you.” Johnny confessed, glancing at Daniel’s doe eyes. He looked taken aback. Daniel hadn’t expected to hear that. He almost didn’t believe it. Johnny, the boy he was in love with, wanted to be with him. But Daniel was still conflicted.</p><p>“You could’ve just been honest with me, you know.” Daniel sighed. Johnny knew he was right. Things would’ve been so much easier and they could’ve been together for the past two weeks, instead of missing each other.</p><p>“I know. Is it too late to make things right?” Johnny asked, wishing Daniel would tell him it’s not too late, and that he loved him and wanted to be with him too. But Daniel didn’t say anything. He still wasn’t sure. The boy kept quiet, still thinking about it. Johnny took this as a sign of rejection, and a sign to leave.</p><p>“Yeah. Okay. I understand. I’ll leave you alone now.” Johnny could hear his own voice breaking. He started to turn around and walk away, not wanting to cry in front of Daniel. He was hurt, how could he not be? He had fucked something up, just like he always did. And he’d broken his own heart in the process.</p><p>Watching Johnny walk away just didn’t feel right to Daniel. He knew if he let Johnny walk away, then this would be it for them. He had to make a decision, and quick. Daniel could tell the other boy was sorry through the look on his face, the guilt in his eyes, and the tone of his voice. It was his words that got to him the most, he knew it wasn’t easy for Johnny to open up, but he did, because he wanted him. Daniel thought about everything they’d been through, and how it all made since now. Johnny was just scared. Scared of losing him. And he’d made a mistake, just like everyone does. He deserved another chance.</p><p>Daniel didn’t waste another second. He ran after Johnny, ready to put an end to this whole misunderstanding.</p><p>“No. Johnny. Wait.” Daniel grabbed Johnny’s arm and turned him around. The blonde’s eyes were glossed over, his tears ready to fall. Daniel immediately ran into his arms, wrapping his arms around the other boy’s middle and just held him close. Johnny sighed in contentment, hoping this wasn’t a goodbye hug and that instead it meant that Daniel had forgiven him.</p><p>“I don’t care what people think. I never did. It’s nobodies business anyways. It’s not like anyone has to find out.” Daniel pointed out, still holding onto Johnny like his life depended on it. Johnny finally hugged him back, putting his arms around Daniel’s shoulders. He rested his head there too, feeling Daniel’s soft hair brush against his face and breathing in his familiar scent. It felt good to have him back in his arms again.</p><p>“And what if they do?” Johnny was still a little worried about people finding out, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. It was his life, after all. If anyone had a problem, they could fuck off.</p><p>“Then we’ll get through it together. I want to be with you too.” Daniel broke the hug, but only so he could press his forehead against Johnny’s. The two teens still had their arms around each other, neither wanting to let go. Ever. Johnny was too happy to let go. Daniel still wanted to be with him. He felt like he didn’t deserve this, but he also felt like the luckiest person alive.</p><p>“I really don’t deserve you, Danny.” Johnny mumbled, letting his hand travel to Daniel’s hair. He slowly ran his fingers through it, liking how soft it felt. Daniel wanted to roll his eyes at what Johnny just said. That wasn’t true at all.</p><p>“Stop talking like that.” Daniel put his head on Johnny’s shoulder, making the hug tight again. He couldn’t see Johnny’s face anymore, but he could feel the blonde shaking. Johnny deserved the world. In Daniel’s eyes, Johnny was perfect. The dark haired teen loved him, so much that it hurt.</p><p>That’s when it clicked : Johnny needed to know that. He needed to know that someone loved him, that person specifically being Daniel. Daniel knew it was sort of a big step, but they had come this far and he felt that Johnny needed to hear it. He should know how Daniel feels.</p><p>“You wanna know something?” Daniel asked, breaking the hug completely this time and grabbing both of Johnny’s hands instead.</p><p>“Yeah...” The blue-eyed teen wasn’t sure what Daniel was going to say, and for some reason he was slightly nervous about it. Daniel took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to say. He’d never said those three words to anyone but his family. He was pretty sure Johnny was the first person he was fully in love with.</p><p>“I love you, Johnny.” Daniel confessed, looking at Johnny’s face to see what his reaction would be. He looked...surprised.</p><p>Johnny had heard those words from two other people. His mom, and Ali. Johnny had said them to Ali first, only because he felt like he had too. It was what couples who’ve been dating for a year did, right? She’d was happy and she said them back, of course. But that was all ancient history, as Bobby had said before.</p><p>Hearing them from Daniel was different. It felt real, it didn’t feel forced, it was full of truth. Johnny was feeling so many emotions right now that he couldn’t bring himself to speak. Daniel was still looking at him, not expecting him to say it back, hell, he didn’t know what to expect.</p><p>Johnny did love him back, he knew that much, but he was too emotional to say it right now. He wanted to cry.</p><p>“Y-you do?” Was all Johnny managed to say before he started sobbing. They weren’t just sad sobs, these were happy sobs too. Johnny couldn’t believe the first time he’s cried in like, two years, was over this. He hadn’t expected anything to mean this much.</p><p>And Daniel hadn’t expected Johnny to cry as a reaction to his love confession. Daniel still didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around him and pull him close, holding Johnny close to his chest. Johnny was slightly taller so he had to lean down a bit, but it didn’t matter. The warmth and comfort of Daniel’s touch was worth it.</p><p>“It’s okay. I’m here.” Daniel whispered as he stroked Johnny’s hair, doing his best to comfort him. He knew he needed this, he needed to be told that he was loved and he needed to cry. Daniel placed a kiss on his forehead, letting him know that he’s here and he’s not going anywhere else.</p><p>Johnny sobbed in Daniel’s arms for a few minutes, letting out every emotion he had bottled up in the past few years, since he hadn’t allowed himself to cry. And you know what? He didn’t feel guilty for crying, either. He was surprisingly happy. The blonde was finally able to stop sobbing, at least enough to where he could speak and his words wouldn’t come out as a stutter or not understandable.</p><p>“I love you too, baby...I love you so fucking much.” Johnny started sobbing again right after saying those words, but he felt himself calming down. He meant it too, he was sure he’d never meant anything more in his entire life. He loved Daniel, with every fiber of his being.</p><p>Daniel felt his heart skip a beat. Johnny loved him back. That’s all he wanted. The other teen finally stopped sobbing for good and sat up. Daniel wiped Johnny’s tears away, solely so he could caress his cheek. Johnny smiled at him, he couldn’t stop smiling.</p><p>“Look man, if we’re gonna try to make this work, we gotta be honest with each other, okay? You can’t shut me out anymore.” Daniel said seriously, removing his hand from Johnny’s cheek. Instead he grabbed one of Johnny’s hands, holding it and interlocking their fingers.</p><p>“I won’t. I promise I won’t.” The blonde promised, and he would keep his word. He never wanted to shut Daniel out again.</p><p>“Good.” The dark haired boy looked around for a minute, making sure no one was looking. He then tilted his head up and pressed his lips against Johnny’s. </p><p>It was a simple kiss, just their lips brushing lightly, sliding against each other. It was over in about ten seconds, both boys wanted it to be longer but they didn’t want anyone seeing. It sucked having to do that, but they were planning on getting plenty of kisses in behind closed doors.</p><p>“So, you love me, huh?” Daniel teased, earning an eye roll from Johnny, although the blonde had a smile on his face.</p><p>“Yeah. I’m pretty sure I always have.” Johnny was pretty sure he fell in love with Daniel the second he laid eyes on him, he’d just been too stupid to realize it. Oh well, it was all in the past. Now they could just enjoy being together, if that’s what they were.</p><p>“Come on. Wanna go to my place? I wanna get out of these dumb clothes.” Both teens had forgotten that Daniel’s clothes were still covered in spaghetti. It was dry by now, but it still looked weird.</p><p>“Yeah, you do look pretty dumb.” Johnny snickered, and Daniel playfully glared at him. It was kind of funny, after all. The doe-eyed teen looked Johnny up and down, finally being able to check out how hot he looked in that suit.</p><p>“Watch it, Lawerence. You have your car? Or your motorcycle?” Daniel would’ve preferred the motorcycle, so he could hang on to Johnny, but unfortunately he didn’t have either.</p><p>“Nope. We took Sid’s car and he’d kill me if I took it. We could go get my Firebird, I guess...” The blonde would’ve taken the car, but he still wanted his mom to have a way home. Daniel sighed in disappointment, looking at his bike that was at the edge of the parking lot. He’d get that later, him and Johnny both couldn’t fit on it.</p><p>“I guess we’re gonna have to walk to your house then. Also, you look hot in that suit.” Daniel couldn’t resist adding that last part as he started walking towards the sidewalk, smirking over his shoulder. Johnny couldn’t help but grin at the compliment. He hated wearing the suit, it was tight and uncomfortable, but he didn’t hate it so much now.</p><p>“Thanks.” Johnny followed Daniel down the sidewalk as they started walking towards the mansion.</p><p>~</p><p>Johnny unlocked the front door of the mansion and grabbed their keys, being grateful that Daniel hadn’t asked to come in. He just wanted to grab the keys and head over to Daniel’s place. The blonde had ran upstairs though, grabbing one of his hoodies to let Daniel wear on the ride instead of his spaghetti covered shirt.</p><p>When the blonde ran back outside, he tossed the blue hoodie to Daniel, who was admiring the huge garden they had. His attention was back on Johnny the second he got out, and he was secretly happy that he now had one of his hoodies. Johnny wouldn’t be getting it back, not any time soon.</p><p>Daniel took off his shirt and stared at Johnny for a second, not being able to stop the teasing smirk that had formed on his face. Johnny liked his lips at the sight of Daniel shirtless. His slender body was definitely a turn on. Daniel didn’t tease him for too long and put the hoodie on, which also was a turn on since he was now wearing Johnny’s clothes.</p><p>Johnny had to force himself to look away and unlock the car. They both got in, having their usual argument over the music. They eventually picked something and Johnny started driving towards Daniel’s place. The two sat in comfortable silence, Daniel looking out the window and Johnny paying attention to the road, although his brain was elsewhere.</p><p>“I’m really sorry for kissing Ali.” The blonde suddenly said, feeling like he should apologize again. Daniel just looked at him, not needing another apology, but knowing that Johnny still felt bad.</p><p>“I know. It’s okay. I’m not holdin’ anything against you.” Daniel placed a hand on Johnny’s knee, reassuring him that it was okay and he forgave him. Johnny looked over and smiled at him, loving how his touch felt. It was like sparks flying, and Johnny craved it. He couldn’t get enough of Daniel’s touch.</p><p>“As long as I’m the only you’re gonna be kissing from now on.” The dark haired teen added jokingly, sliding his hand further up Johnny’s leg. Johnny bit his lip, trying not to get too turned on while he was in the middle of driving.</p><p>“Of course you are, LaRusso.” Johnny turned his attention back towards the road, ignoring Daniel laughing at him because he knew how he affected him. Johnny was planning to smother him with kisses later. </p><p>~</p><p>The two boys finally reached the apartment, going in quietly since Daniel had told Johnny that he snuck out. The rebellious little idiot.</p><p>“Wanna spend the night?” Daniel asked. When his mom sees Johnny there, he’ll just say he came over late and needed somewhere to sleep.</p><p>“If you don’t hog the bed this time, then yeah.” Johnny pestered, jokingly of course. He liked being cramped up with Daniel.</p><p>“I guess I won’t be getting all up on you then.” Daniel teased back, turning his back towards Johnny and walking towards his room. </p><p>“No wait-“ Johnny ran after him, entering Daniel’s room and shutting the door, ready to practically jump Daniel. Johnny was always sort of the cuddling type, but he never showed it until now, until Daniel. He really, really liked cuddling with Daniel. He liked how warm and soft Daniel felt in his arms, he liked how his eyelashes fluttered against his chest, he just liked being close to Daniel.</p><p>“I’m kidding. You know I can’t keep my hands off you.” Daniel pecked Johnny’s lips teasingly, knowing the blonde wanted more. The dark haired teen walked to the bed, gesturing for Johnny to follow him. He quickly took off his spaghetti-covered pants and put on sweatpants instead, ignoring the lustful looks he got from Johnny, who was also stripping down to his boxers. Okay, he secretly loved the looks Johnny was giving him, but he wasn’t gonna admit it to his-...boyfriend? What were they now?</p><p>It was like Johnny had read Daniel’s mind, or maybe he was just asking himself the same question. Either way, he found himself standing  directly in front of Daniel, who was now sitting on the bed. They still looked kind of ridiculous, Johnny only wearing his boxers and Daniel wearing Johnny’s sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants, but that didn’t matter at the moment. All that mattered was the question at hand.</p><p>“Hey Danny, I gotta ask you something...” Johnny wanted them to be official, so he was going to ask him to go steady. He knew Daniel would most likely say yes, but he was still slightly nervous because well, he always got a little nervous around Daniel. The doe-eyed boy had that effect on him.</p><p>“Yeah? What is it?” Daniel questioned, pretending to not know what Johnny was about to ask.</p><p>“So uh...you know how I said I loved you and all of that shit...well...I was wondering if you wanted to you know, be with me. Officially.” Johnny sat next to Daniel on the bed, making sure to look into his beautiful brown eyes as he spoke. They were filled with joy.</p><p>“You mean, be your boyfriend?” Daniel’s eyes lit up as Johnny nodded, grinning at the other teen. He was so cute when he was happy. Scratch that, he’s always cute.</p><p>“Yeah...a real relationship. I know it’s risky, and it could be dangerous but I-“ It would be difficult. They couldn’t hold hands or kiss or touch each other in public, they couldn’t be open about their relationship, they’d have to keep it a secret so know one would find out, but they could do it. Johnny was still a little worried about the risk, he’d be worried for Daniel’s safety as long as Kreese and the others were around.</p><p>“It’s worth the risk. You’re worth the risk.” Daniel cut him off, placing a light kiss on his cheek and putting his head on Johnny’s shoulder. The blonde wrapped an arm around him...his boyfriend, pulling him closer. It felt so right.</p><p>“I feel so bad, knowing I could’ve talked to you the whole time...I’m an idiot.” Johnny also still felt guilty for everything he put them through, when really he could’ve just talked to Daniel and they could’ve figured things out sooner. But maybe he just had to learn that he could let his guard down sometimes, that it was okay to cry, and that some things were just worth the risk.</p><p>“Yeah, you are. But really John, I don’t hold it against you. You were doing what you thought was best. And I appreciate that.” Daniel understood why he did everything and he refused to hold it against him. It would be stupid to do that, when they had a future to look at. Just the two of them, in this together. Nothing could ever change that. They’ll never be perfect, but they were meant to be. Definitely meant to be, Johnny thought as he leaned his head on top of Daniel’s.</p><p>“We still have to be careful. No one can know about us. I don’t think anyone would be too understanding.” Johnny wasn’t really sure if they’d ever be able to tell anyone. Daniel shook his head, just now remembering to tell him that his mom was okay with it.</p><p>“Actually, my mom knew I had a thing for you...she knows. I’m pretty sure Mr. Miyagi knows too. He knows everything.” Daniel told him, and Johnny was surprised that they knew. He figured it was from Daniel talking about him so much, which he would tease him about later. He just wanted to know if they were okay with it.</p><p>“And they’re okay with it?”</p><p>“Yeah, they are. I know not everyone is like that, though. We can keep it a secret out in the open. But behind closed doors...” </p><p>“Behind closed doors, I’m not going to be able to keep my hands off you.” Johnny leaned forward and kissed him then, feeling the fireworks that happened every single time their lips touched. Daniel let Johnny practically pick him up and lay him down on the bed, he wrapped his arms around the blonde’s shoulders and his legs around his waist. The kiss became deeper as Johnny got on top of him, licking his bottom lip. Daniel opened his mouth slightly, letting Johnny’s warm tongue flick against his. They made out for a few minutes, breathing each other in.</p><p>“I wish I knew exactly how to explain how I feel about you. I’m not good with words.” The blonde said as he broke the kiss, pressing their noses together. </p><p>“Then show me.” Both boys knew they weren’t going to all the way tonight, they just started officially dating and they both weren’t ready for that, not yet. They would just make out and cuddle and do shit like that, but Johnny had something else in mind. Another way to show love. A love bite.</p><p>Daniel reached over to turn the light off, the only light then being from the moon. Johnny leaned back down to kiss Daniel again, his hands remaining on the other boy’s hips. Their tongues rasped together as Daniel pulled Johnny impossibly closer, just wanting to feel him and never let him go. They continued kissing, not being able to get enough of how the other’s lips felt against theirs and how they tasted. They’d denied this for too long, and now that they were finally together, they weren’t going to pass this chance up. They were simply addicted to each other.</p><p>Eventually, Johnny found himself kissing down to Daniel’s jawline. The other boy held his head back, guessing what Johnny was going to do and already giving him access to his neck. He hadn’t had much experience, but he was a fast learner and Johnny liked that.</p><p>Johnny placed his lips against Daniel’s neck, beginning to suck and bite at the smooth skin. Daniel let out a soft moan, moving his hands up so they could run through Johnny’s golden locks. Johnny continued to bite there for half a minute, before moving to another spot. Daniel felt a tingle on the spot his boyfriend just left, knowing there was going to be a mark.</p><p>And that wouldn’t be the only spot. Johnny continued to go to different spots on his neck, finding new places to bite and suck at the sensitive skin. Daniel had never gotten a hickey before now, but he was loving how it felt. He’d have to wear something tomorrow to hide the marks, though.</p><p>Daniel decided he wasn’t going to be the only one with a neck covered in hickies. Once Johnny was done with what was either his third or fourth one, Daniel pulled his face up so they could kiss again, and then he tilted Johnny’s head up so he could access his neck. Johnny leaned his head back, clearly wanting Daniel to give him one. The dark haired boy wasn’t really sure how to do it, but he found himself sucking on Johnny’s smooth skin like he’d been doing it his whole life. He could tell Johnny liked it, though, by the sounds he was making and the way his hand slid down Daniel’s chest.</p><p>Daniel left a few more hickies, savoring the sounds that came from Johnny as he left the love bites on his neck. Johnny loved how Daniel’s plump lips felt, he couldn’t get enough of it. Soon enough the boys found themselves kissing again, this time the kisses were more sloppy since they were tiring themselves out. They kissed for a few more minutes, the kisses being slow and gentle. None of the kisses shared tonight had been rough or fast, they’d all been slow and passionate.</p><p>They couldn’t just make out all night, unfortunately. It’s been a long one, so they were tired anyways. Johnny flopped over beside Daniel, his hand immediately finding the other boy’s.</p><p>“God, my mom is going to freak when she sees all these bruises on my neck.” Daniel laughed to himself, touching the love bites on his neck. He couldn’t see them since he literally couldn’t view his own neck, but he knew they were there and they were probably a deep purple.</p><p>“Mine too.” Johnny was hoping his mom wouldn’t notice. Or worse, Sid. He’d never hear the end of it and he’d constantly be questioned if he was seeing anyone. He decided if that happened, he would ignore it. He wasn’t done living by anyone else’s rules.</p><p>Gone were the days where he secretly lived by fear, when he lashed out or ran away to avoid his problems. Johnny wouldn’t do that, not anymore. Not to himself, and not to Daniel. Daniel was the reason he had realized this, after all. Sometimes you need to be reminded that you’re cared about, and that you should care about yourself, too.</p><p>The two boys layed there in silence, their hands still interlocked. They were both thinking. Johnny was thinking about how grateful he was that he had Daniel. He really had learned from his mistakes. He knew he wasn’t completely out of the woods, he still had problems because life was never going to be perfect. He still had things to deal with, but those were pushed to the back of his mind right now. He’d worry about them later. As long as he had Daniel to be there to remind him that when things get tough, he never had to be alone, Johnny figured he’d be just fine.</p><p>“You know, I could take on your idiot friends.” Daniel said out of nowhere, his thoughts being about how much he wanted to kick Dutch’s ass for giving Johnny another black eye. Dutch had been off his back ever since Mr. Miyagi and Kreese had made that deal, but it still angered Daniel that he was being a dick about this whole situation. He didn’t even know the half of it, he was simply mad because Daniel had made Johnny ‘soft’. No, Johnny was tough, he just wasn’t a dick. Not anymore.</p><p>“Sure.” Johnny replied teasingly as Daniel moved closer to him. Johnny moved his arm up so Daniel could snuggle up to his bare chest. Daniel rested his head there, listening to the sound of Johnny’s heartbeat. Johnny wrapped his arm back around him casually, letting his fingers glide down Daniel’s back.</p><p>“No really, I’ve gotten really good at karate. I could probably kick your ass into next week.” Daniel bragged, poking Johnny’s cheek. Johnny swatted at him with his free hand, but Daniel dodged it and Johnny ended up slapping himself in the face.</p><p>“Dream on, LaRusso.” Johnny scoffed as he ignored Daniel laughing at him, but it was honestly really adorable.</p><p>“You don’t think I can do it, huh?” Daniel mocked, propping himself up on Johnny’s chest. The blonde rolled his eyes and smirked at him.</p><p>“Nope.” Okay, Johnny knew that Daniel probably had gotten pretty good, even though he never saw him do anything. He still didn’t think Daniel could beat him, though. Never. (Not even in the tournament, which they had both forgotten about. Neither wanted to actually mention it and ruin the moment, either).</p><p>“I’ll prove it to you then. You and me, let’s go right now.” Daniel said as he sat up, being serious but also fighting back a laugh. Johnny thought he was joking, but was disappointed once the other boy had gotten off of him. Now he was cold.</p><p>“Babe, you’re fucking crazy if you think I’m actually going to get out of bed right now.” Johnny remarked, pulling the blanket over himself since Daniel had decided to get up.</p><p>“You’re lazy.” Daniel teased, still sitting up. If he actually wanted to spar right now, then he really is crazy. It was probably around midnight by now. They’d both lost track of time a long time ago.</p><p>“No, you’re just warm.” That was enough to make Daniel lay back down, crawling under the covers and back to his spot on Johnny’s chest. Johnny pulled the other boy closer, enjoying the warmth of Daniel’s body against his.</p><p>“I’ll kick your ass later then.” Daniel mumbled as he snuggled into Johnny’s chest, wrapping an arm around his abdomen and pressing as close as he possibly could to him.</p><p>“You wish.” Both teens lightly chucked at their silly little argument. They both wanted to spar eventually, just not at night when they had just been covered in kisses and hickies.</p><p>“I’m glad that we finally talked things out.” Daniel whispered after a minute. Johnny was glad they talked things out too. He wouldn’t let his guard down for anyone else, just Daniel. He wouldn’t mess things up like he did with Ali. Daniel was just...different. He made Johnny not want to be aggressive, not want to fight. He just made him feel better.</p><p>“Me too. I’m never shutting you out again and I mean it.” Johnny leaned his head over and placed a kiss on the top of Daniel’s head, the dark haired teen’s soft hair tickling his lips.</p><p>“I love you, baby.” Daniel closed his eyes after he said that, too tired to talk more tonight. But he was going to tell Johnny he loved him every night if he could, he would remind him of it everyday until he knew damn well it was true and that things would never change.</p><p>“I love you too, Danny.” Johnny said back, not hesitating for a moment. He felt like he had reached a new chapter of his life. At the beginning of the year when he had arrived with his friends at the beach, he knew he was going to improve this year. By that he meant his grades, not himself. He hadn’t planned on changing.</p><p>He hadn’t planned on falling in love with Daniel. Johnny didn’t know that little punk on the beach trying to teach his ex soccer would end up being so important to him. He had no idea how much being with him had changed him. He wasn’t that aggressive bully anymore. He was just Johnny. Sweet, caring, stubborn Johnny.</p><p>And together, him and Daniel were just two people who were made for each other. Two people who were meant to be. And nothing was going to stand in the way of that, not anymore.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I’m glad that these two finally talked it out &lt;3 I hope you guys were happy with this one, I sure loved writing it. The next two chapters will be nice and fluffy too (chapter 11 might even have a little smut, so the rating might change). Chapter 12...I can’t wait for that ;) no matter what happens, our boys are going to have a happy ending</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10 - You and Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The boys finally get to be happy together &lt;3</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I didn’t proofread again, oops? Anyways this chapter is really, really fluffy :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Johnny swears that he’s been happier in the past few weeks than he’s ever been in his entire seventeen years of being alive. He doesn’t feel angry anymore, or like he’s missing something. Being with Daniel has helped him in ways that he could never have imagined. He feels loved. He feels complete. Johnny never felt like this with Ali. With Daniel, things felt real. They didn’t feel forced or fake, it felt one-hundred percent real.</p><p>And Daniel is finally completely happy in California. He can’t believe he ever wanted to leave. All he wanted from the second he got here was to go back to Newark, now he never wanted to leave. He never wanted to leave Johnny. Newark was okay, and Judy (his ex) was great but...</p><p>This...this was true love.</p><p>And it is, it is real love, Daniel thought as he smiled to himself in the passenger seat of the Firebird. He glanced over at Johnny, who was driving and bobbing his head along to the music. He looked as good as he always did, his blonde bangs falling loosely on his face and he’s wearing nice clothes that make him look like a California pretty boy. Hell, he is a pretty boy.</p><p>Johnny’s been driving him to school ever since they’ve started going steady. That way they get a little time together before school starts and they have to pretend like they’re just friends. They can’t hold hands in the hallways or kiss or show affection or just be a couple in general.</p><p>They can live with that, though. Outside of school they can’t keep their hands off each other. They more often than not go to Daniel’s apartment after school, or somewhere that they could go on a date. Those times are filled with heated make out sessions or just sitting there, comfortable and relaxed in each other’s arms, talking about anything and everything, which also usually ended up in them passionately kissing. They’ve also attempted to spar just to see what moves the other has, but they always ended up making out on the floor within the first minute. </p><p>Daniel couldn’t wait until they could do that today, since they were both free. They couldn’t spend every day together since they both had training. But spending time together never got old or tiring, not with Johnny. There was always something new to talk about. And believe it or not, making out never got boring either. They haven’t gone any farther than that, not yet. The thought had crossed Johnny’s mind a few times but, he hasn’t made a move. He wanted too though, and he would, maybe soon.</p><p>For now they had to deal with school. Johnny parked the Firebird in his new usual spot, which was away from everyone so no one could see him and Daniel if they did anything. The blonde was actually sort of nervous today, Sid made him clean his room and as he was doing that he found his class ring that his mom made him get in the fall, but he had never worn it since he didn’t see the point. He knew other boys usually let their girlfriends wear their class rings, and Daniel was definitely not a girl (even though he called him ‘Danielle’ sometimes when he was being a baby), but he decided to let him wear it. That’s why he was nervous, because of what giving the ring to someone usually symbolized, the seriousness of a relationship. He also just wanted to give Daniel something that was his. (The several hoodies didn’t count, Daniel had stolen those).</p><p>“What’s that?” Daniel asked as he watched Johnny pull something from his center console.  Johnny turned around to face him, showing him the ring he had in his hand.</p><p>“Ah, just my class ring. I don’t wear it much.” He’s never wore it at all, actually. “I found it in my room and uh-...well, you wanna wear it?” Johnny added, eyes flickering from the ring to Daniel, who looked surprised.</p><p>“What? You calling me a girl?” Daniel joked, earning an eye roll from Johnny. The dark haired teen knew guys usually gave their girlfriends their class rings when they really cared about them and when they were serious about them. It was also a sign that they were taken. If Daniel wore it, they’d think it was his own, or that he stole it from someone since Reseda kids usually didn’t buy them. But in reality, it would just be something his secret boyfriend gave him as a sign of commitment.</p><p>“Yeah, princess. No, I’m just offering you a ring.” That’s all it was. Daniel could even think of it as an early birthday present. All it is, is a simple silver ring with their school symbol on it and the year ‘1984’ with small blue gems in a few spots.</p><p>“You’d really give me your class ring?” </p><p>“Yeah. I mean, I never wear it.” Johnny pointed it out, shrugging as he spoke. He looked at Daniel’s brown deer eyes, they were slightly wider than usual because he was still surprised. It was a normal thing for couples to give each other things like this, meaning something or not. Johnny had given Ali several things, but because she said he had too. This was different. He didn’t have to give Daniel anything, but he wanted too. He wanted Daniel to wear his ring. </p><p>“You know, people usually don’t just hand those type of things to just anyone.” Daniel cursed himself for overthinking. He just wanted to make sure Johnny was serious about this. It meant that this relationship was serious. A sign of dedication. Daniel didn’t need a ring to know that he was special to Johnny, but he could still have it.</p><p>“Well, you’re not just anyone, Danny. Christ, you’re starting to sound like a girl.” Johnny laughed as Daniel swatted at him, dodging the hit like he always did. Daniel crossed his arms and pouted, his bottom lip sticking out more than usual. Johnny fought the urge to lean forward and kiss him, wanting to bite his bottom lip. He would do that later. For now he just wanted the asshole to take the ring so they could get on with their day.</p><p>“Shut up, asshole. It’s just, what if you change your mind and-“ Now Daniel was just doing it to annoy Johnny, and the blonde knew it. Johnny was not going to change his mind. He was in this for the long term, and so was Daniel.</p><p>“Jesus LaRusso, do you want the damn ring or not? It’s not like I’m asking you to marry me.” Johnny rolled his eyes. Daniel was over here acting like it was a whole marriage proposal when it wasn’t even a promise ring. Daniel smiled nervously at him, ready to stop talking and just take the ring.</p><p>“Yeah sure, I’ll take it.” Daniel held his hand out, and Johnny grinned at him before taking the ring and sliding it up his middle finger. Daniel had skinny hands too (big surprise), so it would have to go there instead of his ring finger.</p><p>“Think of it as an early birthday present.” Johnny suggested as he finished sliding on the ring, leaning over to the passenger seat so he could be closer to Daniel.</p><p>“My birthday is in more than a week.” Daniel pointed out as Johnny started gently kissing his neck, not planning to leave a mark (there were already plenty of those), just wanting to kiss him. Daniel admired the ring on his finger, it wasn’t a perfect fit, but him and Johnny were. </p><p>“I know, that’s why I said early. I have another present for your actually birthday.” Johnny whispered in his ear before kissing back down his neck, pulling the collar of his shirt down so he could kiss his collarbone. He had two other presents in mind, one of them a material item, the other...well, the other was something else.</p><p>“Aw look at you, being nice for once.” Daniel teased, cupping Johnny’s face and moving his head up. He gently caressed the other boy’s cheek, looking deep into his sparkling cerulean eyes. Johnny may be a little punk sometimes, but he was also the sweetest, most caring person that Daniel has ever met. He couldn’t ask for a better boyfriend. Johnny was perfect, Johnny was good for him.</p><p>“Shut up, asshole.” And with that, Johnny leaned up and captured Daniel’s lips, softly kissing him. He was about to trap his bottom lip between his teeth, but the bell rang. Both teens groaned at the unfortunate timing.</p><p>The duo got out of the car and walked into school, standing as close together as they could without it looking suspicious. They had first period together, so that’s where they had to go.</p><p>~</p><p>Johnny watched Daniel from across the room, laughing to himself as he watched him argue with Freddy about what they were supposed to be doing. They had to do some stupid assignment that Johnny could give two shits about, and they couldn’t pick their partners this time. Johnny was patterned up with some girl, but she wasn’t here so he had to do all the work by himself. And that’s what he was doing, standing there, listening to music with his walkman and minding his own business, when Bobby walked up to him.</p><p>They hadn’t talked in school ever since the situation at the dojo. Which, was only getting worse. Kreese was really going hard on them, preparing them for the tournament which was in a little more than a week. It was rough. And for once Johnny dreaded that damn tournament. He didn’t want to fight Daniel. Neither one of them had brought it up during their conversations, and Johnny was thankful for that because he didn’t want an argument to start. Him and Daniel always had silly arguments over stupid stuff, but they weren’t serious. The tournament however, could definitely start a serious argument, and neither of them wanted that.</p><p>Anyways, at the dojo, Johnny and Dutch kept getting into fights. Bobby, Jimmy, and Tommy tried not to take sides, but they hadn’t really talked to him at school. Johnny assumed it was because he was publicly talking to Daniel again, which Dutch had a problem with because again, he thought Johnny was going ‘soft’. Luckily he wasn’t allowed to mess with Daniel until the tournament. As for the others, Johnny was kind of disappointed that they stopped talking to him at school, but they did sometimes call him on the phone. Bobby had even asked about Daniel a few times, you know, asking Johnny if they were a thing or something, but Johnny always hung up the phone if he asked that. He wasn’t sure if he should tell Bobby or not.</p><p>“Hey Johnny.” Johnny looked up at him, cocking an eyebrow. Bobby awkwardly looked away, looking at anything but Johnny. The blonde rolled his eyes and went back to work on whatever the hell he was supposed to be doing. Honestly, all he did in this class was listen to music and stare at Daniel.</p><p>“Oh, you’re talking to me in school now, huh?” The blonde questioned. He could feel Bobby finally look back at him. Bobby did feel kind of bad, he’d been listening to Dutch and keeping away from Johnny in school, since he was always with Daniel. He was kind of intimidated by Dutch, worried about what he’d do if he found out Bobby talking to them them, so he decided it was best to listen to him, at least for now.</p><p>“Look man, I’m sorry for not talking to you. Dutch was being an asshole about...you know.” They both knew what Bobby was referring too. The thing was, Daniel wasn’t making Johnny soft, nope. He just made him not want to be an asshole. There’s a difference between being badass and being a bully.</p><p>“Yeah yeah, me being friends with LaRusso. Here to question my friendship with him, again?” Johnny instantly regretted bringing that up, knowing Bobby’s smart ass was going to tease him about it. He glanced over at Daniel, who was still arguing with Freddy, and he looked like he was losing. Johnny shook his head and softly smiled at him. He forgot that Bobby was standing there watching him, and he could see the way he looked at Daniel, his eyes full of love and admiration.</p><p>“Johnny, I think we both know that you two are more than friends.” Bobby really didn’t care who Johnny liked, he just wanted him to be happy. He needed someone good for him after having so many bad people in his life. And Daniel was without a doubt good for him. Bobby had known Johnny since they were kids and he’d never seen him smile this much. </p><p>Johnny mentally kicked himself for looking at Daniel like that in front of Bobby. He outta know by now that nothing gets past him.</p><p>“How dare you even suggest that.” Johnny gulped, looking down at the floor. He sounded so fake, it was almost amusing.</p><p>“Really? You think I’m blind? I see the way he looks at you. The same way you look at him. Friends don’t look at each other that way.” Friends don’t look at each other with their eyes full of pure love. Johnny never even looked at Ali like that. It was so obvious he had it bad for Daniel.</p><p>Johnny just sighed and continued looking down, he couldn’t bring himself to look at Bobby.</p><p>“Listen, I’m not going to judge you, man. I just want you to be happy. And well...with LaRusso, you look pretty damn happy.” Bobby had told him a million times that he wasn’t going to judge him, and this was the first time Johnny believed it. He looked back up and at Daniel, who was now looking back at him. A small smile formed on his face, his brown deer eyes sparkling from the light of the window he’s standing next to. There was no other word to describe how he looks right now other than beautiful.</p><p>Johnny didn’t want to look away from him. The smile creeped back up on his face and he finally decided to tell Bobby the truth. He couldn’t just lie when he was looking straight at the boy he was in love with.</p><p>“I am.” He finally admitted, unable to stop the widening of his smile. Daniel smiled brighter too, not being able to hear whatever Johnny was saying, but just grinning because of how cute he looked. They weren’t even having a conversation, just looking at Johnny was enough to light up his day.</p><p>“You do like him?” Bobby asked, already knowing the answer, it being officially obvious once he saw the exchange of looks between the two.</p><p>“Yep. We’re going steady now.” Johnny answered, ready to hear it from Bobby. Daniel finally broke the daze they were in when Freddy started another argument, this time getting something thrown at him. Johnny laughed and looked away, finally looking at Bobby. He had an annoying little grin on his face.</p><p>“I knew it!” Bobby exclaimed, unable to stop himself from bragging. Johnny rolled his eyes, knowing the unbearable amount of questions that were coming.</p><p>“Don’t even start.” Johnny warned, trying to sound intimidating, even though there was still a smile on his face.</p><p>“So, you and LaRusso, huh? You in love with him?” Bobby nudged him in a teasing way, just glad that Johnny finally told him the truth.</p><p>“Yeah. Now knock it off with the questions, and don’t tell anyone or I’ll kill you.” Johnny nudged him back, harder than he did, almost knocking the other teen over.</p><p>“Take a chill pill. I’m happy for you, man.” Bobby laughed, clapping a hand over Johnny’s shoulder. It was nice to have a supportive friend, even if it was just one of them. Johnny was just hella relieved that Bobby actually didn’t judge him.</p><p>“Thanks.” Johnny watched as Daniel and Freddy were getting scolded by a teacher for throwing stuff at each other, doing his best to contain his laughter. Today had been good so far. And Johnny had a feeling it was only going to get better.</p><p>~</p><p>A few hours passed and now it was their lunch break. Johnny usually met up with Daniel somewhere in the cafeteria, and most of the time they went off and found their own personal spot, so they could be alone. Today though, Bobby practically dragged Johnny into the library with him, complaining about some project he had to do at the last minute. Johnny just rolled his eyes and leaned against the bookshelf, his thoughts elsewhere.</p><p>Not even a second later, Daniel came running through the door, looking around nervously. The nervous look on his face went away when he saw Johnny, who looked at him quizzically.</p><p>“Running away from someone? Let me guess, Dutch?” Johnny asked as Daniel walked over to him, with the usual expression that his face did after he just did something that a little shit like him would do.</p><p>“I may or may not have rubbed it in his face that he couldn’t attack me for another week. That is, if one of you win.” Typical Daniel. Johnny couldn’t resist laughing at him, choosing to ignore the last part. He’d ignore talking about the tournament as long as he could.</p><p>“I’m shocked. You dumbass.” Johnny remarked, crossing his arms.</p><p>“You love me.” Daniel stated, looking around to make sure no one was looking before he pushed Johnny into the corner between the shelf and the wall. Johnny let him, of course.</p><p>“Yeah yeah, sure.” Johnny bit his lip as Daniel leaned on him, pressing his back against the wall. He felt Daniel’s hands untucking his shirt and making their way up his chest, running his hand over Johnny’s rock-hard abs. Daniel leaned up to kiss him, sliding on arm around the back of Johnny’s neck and touching his hair, while the other remained on his chest. Johnny kissed him back at first, letting himself lean back on the wall.</p><p>“We shouldn’t be doing this in a library. Someone could see.” The blonde said as he broke the kiss, much to the dark haired boy’s dismay. Times like this was when keeping their relationship a secret sucked. Daniel sighed, he had almost forgotten that they were in the corner of a library. He knew it was for their own good if they didn’t take the risk.</p><p>“Yeah, I know. Why are ya even in here?” Daniel questioned as he backed up, still leaving only a few inches between him and Johnny.</p><p>“Bobby the fucking nerd dragged me in here.” Johnny answered, looking behind Daniel and noticing the said nerd was standing there. Johnny was glad he told him, assuming that he probably saw them kissing.</p><p>“Hey, LaRusso.” Bobby had a look on his face that let Johnny know he saw everything. Daniel looked scared, looking at Johnny with panic in his eyes.</p><p>“Don’t worry, he knows about us. He’s cool with it.” Johnny reassured, putting a hand on his shoulder and gently rubbing it. Daniel sighed in relief and finally turned around to face Bobby, who still had that dumb smirk on his face.</p><p>“Oh uh...thanks?” Daniel wasn’t sure if he could trust Bobby, considering what happened on the soccer field back in September. Bobby realized he never apologized for that.</p><p>“Listen man, I’m sorry for what I did on the soccer field a few months ago. I shouldn’t have listened to Dutch.” Bobby wasn’t a wimp or anything, Johnny knew that, he was just a little worried about the stuff that Dutch has/would do. Johnny was convinced that Dutch would end up in jail one day. While Johnny only saw Kreese as a father figure (or he used to, his respect for the man was slowly draining), Dutch practically idolized him.</p><p>Daniel could tell Bobby’s apology was sincere. He wasn’t like Dutch, the guy had a good heart. He was caught up with the wrong people, just like Johnny was.</p><p>“It’s cool. I’m way past that.” Daniel shrugged, honestly meaning it. He hadn’t thought about it in months. Bobby nodded as a response, watching as Johnny slowly wrapped his arms around Daniel’s waist from behind. He took that as a sign to leave before he saw something that would scar him for life.</p><p>“I’m just gonna leave you two to your...business.” Bobby winked at them before walking off, earning the finger from Johnny and a nervous smile from Daniel. Johnny spun Daniel back around, still keeping his arms around the smaller boy’s waist. He let his hands travel farther down, finding a place in Daniel’s back pockets. The dark haired teen blushed, Johnny had never went that far before. But he liked it, and put his arms around Johnny’s neck to show that he did.</p><p>“So LaRusso, wanna go on a date tonight?” Johnny asked, he had planned for them to go to the beach where they first met. You know, sit in the sand and watch the waves and possibly try to drown each other, even though the water was way too cold for swimming.</p><p>“Hmm, I’ll have to think about it.” Daniel teased, of course he’d go, it was just funny to mess with Johnny. The blonde scowled at him in a playful way, the little brat.</p><p>“You little tease.” Johnny lifted Daniel up, causing the other boy to laugh loudly. He wrapped his legs around Johnny’s waist, allowing himself to be picked up and pressed against the book shelf. If it were anyone else picking him up, Daniel would probably kick them, but he liked the way Johnny’s arms felt around him. He felt secure, knowing Johnny wouldn’t drop him, he was too strong for that. The blonde placed his hands on the back of his boyfriend’s skinny legs, keeping him against the bookshelf. Daniel still had his arms around Johnny’s neck, and now he was looking down at him, smiling at the other boy.</p><p>Johnny didn’t waist another second before leaning in for a kiss, Daniel’s lips meeting his at an awkward angle. It was a sloppy kiss, since they weren’t in the best position, but it worked. That was until Johnny made the kiss deeper, pushing Daniel even more against the bookshelf, which ended up knocking over a few books.</p><p>“Is someone back there?” The librarian’s voice sounded from the front of the room, causing Johnny to quickly put Daniel down. They broke apart as fast as they could, not wanting to get caught.</p><p>“Uh yes ma’am, we uh just-...fell over?” It didn’t sound like a very convincing lie, Johnny wished he let Daniel make it up. He was the one who was good at bullshitting people, he’d make a great car-salesman one day. </p><p>“Yeah you idiot, I’ll go on a date with you. Where to?” Daniel snickered as Johnny tucked his shirt back in. Johnny glared at him but couldn’t fight the grin on his face at the thought of their date later.</p><p>“The beach. You know, the place where we met.” Ah yes, the day they met. That day was surely a memorable one, for multiple reasons.</p><p>“Oh yeah, where you almost kicked my ass over a radio.” Daniel joked, it was one hell of a way to start what would turn out becoming an amazing relationship. A relationship that was healthy and benefited them both, a relationship that anyone who knew them could see was full of love, and trust. A relationship that was going to last.</p><p>“Yep. You were a little punk then and you’re a little punk now.” Johnny ruffled Daniel’s hair, messing it up. Daniel huffed as the bell rang and he tried to fix his hair, ignoring the smirk on Johnny’s face.</p><p>“Watch it. I’m gonna show you my badass karate moves. Eventually. Now let’s go to class because some of us don’t want to fail.” Daniel had actually gotten really good at karate, Mr. Miyagi was a great sensei, and Daniel was convinced his teaching methods were the opposite of whatever the hell Kreese was teaching Johnny and the others. Every time Daniel thought of Kreese, he felt a burning hatred. Because of him, he was going to have to go up against Johnny in the tournament. He halfway wanted to talk to Johnny about it, maybe try to convince him to quit Cobra Kai but he knew it wasn’t fair to put pressure on him to do that. As much of a pain in the ass as Kreese was, Cobra Kai was like a home to Johnny and Daniel didn’t want to take that away. So Daniel avoided that topic. It would come up eventually, but not now.</p><p>“You’re such a nerd.” Johnny remarked as they left the library, heading to their next class. He couldn’t wait for their date tonight. It would be simple, nothing special or extravagant, but it was with Daniel. And anywhere with Daniel was perfectly, one-hundred percent fine.</p><p>~</p><p>Going back to the exact spot where they met brought back a huge wave of memories for Daniel and Johnny as they stepped out of the Firebird and onto the cool sand.</p><p>Daniel remembers coming to California and instantly hating it. He didn’t expect to fall in love with a typical rich blonde California boy who was so much more under his exterior. He didn’t expect a whole roller coaster of love that took him to where he was today. And it’s only gonna keep going.</p><p>Johnny thought he was just going to the beach for a stupid party to kick off the summer before senior year. He hadn’t expected to fall hard for the asshole ‘flirting’ with his ex. He didn’t know that this year would be the best of his life (so far). He didn’t know he’d find true happiness.</p><p>“Damn, the memories of this place.” Johnny said as he walked towards the ocean, Daniel trailing behind him. He sounded like he was reminiscing on something that happened years ago, even though it’s been months.</p><p>“You act like we’re fifty-three year olds celebrating our thirty-fifth anniversary.” Daniel teased, stepping up to next to him and grabbing his arm, wrapping himself around it and leaning his head on Johnny’s shoulder. No one else was here, since the water was cold, so he could do what he wanted. </p><p>“Well, I feel like I’ve been with your dumb ass for years.” Johnny retorted, tearing his gaze away from the ocean and glancing down at Daniel, a soft, teasing smile on his face.</p><p>“Is that a compliment or an insult?” Daniel chuckled, leaning impossibly closer to Johnny. It was more of a compliment. Daniel could be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but Johnny loves him regardless, because he’s a pain in the ass too. And it feels like he’s known Daniel for years, and he wants to make it to where he’s known Daniel for years. He knows they can make it.</p><p>“Both.” Johnny concluded, reaching down and grabbing Daniel’s hand. He intertwined their fingers, brushing his thumb against the back of his hand. The blonde leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, admiring how cute he looks on his arm.</p><p>The two walked to a spot on the beach that was secluded, but not enough to where they couldn’t see the Firebird. They sat down on the sand, their hands still tied together. They just sat there looking out at the ocean, Daniel’s head resting on Johnny’s shoulder and Johnny’s head resting on the top of Daniel’s. They sat in comfortable silence, the only sound being the waves as they crashed onto the shore.</p><p>“Why didn’t you kick my ass that day?” Daniel asked out of nowhere. He always wondered if Johnny had felt the same instant attraction that Daniel felt for him.</p><p>“You mean...here, when we first met?” Obviously, Johnny thought to himself, what else could Daniel be referring too?</p><p>“Yeah, why didn’t you?” Daniel honestly wanted to know. He was ready to fight Johnny himself, but he didn’t. He couldn’t even finish his sentence because he got caught in those cerulean eyes full of importance.</p><p>“Honestly, I wanted to punch you twice as hard because I thought you were cute and I didn’t know where those thoughts came from, but something told me not too. I just couldn’t do it.” Johnny answered truthfully. He didn’t know how to deal with his feelings that day, he’d never felt attraction for another guy. Daniel was adorable and Johnny wanted him, but he didn’t know how to deal with that so he wanted to punch it out like he always did. But he couldn’t, his body wouldn’t let him.</p><p>“You just felt like you couldn’t, and you didn’t want to?” Daniel knew exactly how it felt. He didn’t know if it was love at first sight, but it was definitely how it felt when you meet someone who will turn your world around. (Oh, but it was, it was love at first sight).</p><p>“Yeah, there was just something about you. I already knew you were a moron, but you were gonna be something important. I was like drawn to you, or something stupid like that.” Johnny admitted, a playful smile forming on his face. He was right though, Daniel was the most important thing to him right now. And he felt like it would last. A long, long time. (Forever).</p><p>“It’s not stupid. I felt the same way, you punk.” Daniel removed his head from Johnny’s shoulder, jokingly glaring at him. That glare never failed to make Johnny laugh his ass off.</p><p>“Please, you couldn’t even finish your sentence because you thought I was so hot.” And that was a fact. The second Daniel looked at him, he was at a loss for words. Talk about taking someone’s breath away.</p><p>“Shut it, Lawerence. You were hot though. Especially those golden locks.” Daniel took his free hand and ran it through Johnny’s hair, caressing those soft, golden locks that he loved so much.</p><p>“You got a thing for blondes, LaRusso?” Johnny knew he did, and he found it hot. Johnny didn’t have a type per say, but now the only person he wanted to be with was Daniel. So he guessed his type was hothead Italians from Jersey that had glowing tan skin and beautiful, big brown doe eyes.</p><p>“Yep. But now the only blonde I got a thing for is you.” Daniel attempted to get on top of Johnny and straddle him, but Johnny beat him too it. He found himself under Johnny, who had pinned his wrists to the ground and was now staring at him with his pretty blue eyes.</p><p>“Good. You’re mine, Danny.” Johnny leaned down and kissed him, finally getting a real chance to bite his bottom lip. Daniel groaned against his lips, taking his arms and wrapping them around Johnny’s shoulders, using the opportunity to touch his golden hair again. Johnny continued kissing him, their lips gliding over each other smoothly, until he remembered they were on a public beach.</p><p>“Wait, we’re in public.” The blonde said between kisses, not being able to stop himself for too long. Daniel’s lips were just so warm, and wet, and soft, and Johnny just couldn’t get enough of them.</p><p>“It’s just the two of us.” Daniel said when he got the chance, and that was enough to reassure Johnny. No one was here, he could kiss Daniel as much as he wanted.</p><p>And that’s what he did. Johnny leaned down against, colliding his lips with Daniel’s. His tongue traced over the other boy’s lips, his mouth immediately opening to allow him entrance. Their tongues clashed together as the kiss deepened, Johnny completely on top of Daniel. The kisses were passionate and sweet, the best kind. And they got lost in it.</p><p>So lost, that they didn’t hear another car pull up. They were so addicted to kissing each other, they didn’t hear a girl gasp in surprise and run over to them. So intimate, that they almost didn’t hear her talk.</p><p>Almost.</p><p>“Daniel? Johnny? What the-...what?” Both boys immediately scrambled apart, practically falling over each other as they sat up and tried to look normal, but it was no use. The girl had already saw them.</p><p>“Uh...hey Ali.” Johnny didn’t know what to say to his ex who had just caught him making out with her ex-crush. That was one hell of a situation.</p><p>“‘Hey Ali’.” Ali mocked, rolling her eyes at Johnny. “What’s going on here?” She asked, eyeing them both. She didn’t seem angry or hurt, just confused.</p><p>“You cannot tell anyone you saw us.” Johnny pleaded, fear apparent in his voice. That was something Ali had never heard before. She looked to Daniel, who look worried, and everything clicked. Everything started to make sense.</p><p>“Listen, I won’t but-...what’s going on? Are you guys together?” Ali sat down across from them, ready for an explanation. They had no choice but to be completely honest with her. She already saw them.</p><p>“Yeah, we’re together.” Daniel admitted, looking away. Ali was quiet for a moment and Johnny honestly couldn’t read her expression. She didn’t even look that shocked.</p><p>“I knew it!” Ali exclaimed, beaming at them both. She was a little disappointed since this meant she didn’t have a chance with Daniel, and she was also still mad at Johnny, but this was too good.</p><p>“What?” Both boys asked in unison, looking at each other, extremely confused. They looked back at Ali, who was smiling.</p><p>“Everything makes sense now...why you couldn’t fight him at the beach, why you always rushed to talk to him before I could, why you two always spent so much time together not fighting, why you had his arm around him at Golf N Stuff...why you ran after him at the party...” It all made since to her now. Ali knew it must be terrifying for them, two boys who liked each other. She wasn’t mad that they were dating, she was sympathetic because she knew how hard their situation must be.</p><p>“Damn, were we that obvious?” Johnny laughed to himself, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Ali had always been smart, even though she played dumb sometimes.</p><p>“I guess so...I just didn’t want to believe it.” She shrugged, looking back at them both. Johnny decided now would be a good time to apologize to her for the events that happened at the country club. He hadn’t seen her for the past few weeks, she seemed to be avoiding him. She’d tried to talk to Daniel, but never really for the chance. This was the first time she had an actual conversation with either of them.</p><p>“Look Ali, I’m really sorry for what I did at the party. It was wrong of me to do that, I was just-...” Johnny trailed off, not knowing how to find the right words. He wanted to make amends with her because he truly was sorry.</p><p>“Trying to push Daniel away, I know, I forgive you. I understand and I’m not mad at either of you.” Ali smiled at them both, it would be nice to have the two of them as friends now that everything had settled down. She would always care about the two of them, that was for certain.</p><p>“Wait, you don’t hate us?” Daniel raised an eyebrow, convinced this was all a trick, but Ali was being genuine.</p><p>“Why would I? You can’t control how you feel.” And that was the truth. That’s why they couldn’t stay away from each other for that long. That’s why they still loved each other despite all of the drama. Because they were in love and nothing was going to change that.</p><p>“Ali, come on!” Ali turned her back to see her friends waiting for her by the water. She looked back at Daniel and Johnny, smiling softly once more before standing up.</p><p>“I’ve gotta go, but I’ll see you two at school. I hope we can be friends now.” She waved at them before running off to her friends, who were oblivious to the whole situation.</p><p>“Sure we can! Thanks for supporting us!” Daniel called after her, happy that someone else supported them, and she smiled over her shoulder. Johnny didn’t expect this to happen. But he was glad it did, he didn’t have to worry about her hitting on Daniel, and it was nice to know someone else was supportive. The two of them could be friends now, no strings attached.</p><p>“Wow, I can’t believe she reacted like that. I thought she’d be mad.” Johnny moved to the spot that Ali was just at and took Daniel’s hand again, this time it was the one that had the ring on it. He liked seeing Daniel wear his hoodies, so this was no exception.</p><p>“And I can’t believe she caught us making out at the same spot where I almost beat your ass.” Daniel leaned forward, getting close to the other boy’s face.</p><p>“Yeah? Well, I could totally take you on now.” Their foreheads bumped together, causing them both to chuckle. They both knew they weren’t going to spar tonight. They didn’t want to think about anything else. It was just going to be the two of them, being together on the beach without a care in the world.</p><p>“In your dreams, LaRusso.” And with that, Johnny leaned forward and kissed Daniel again, this time slowly and softly. His hands traveled to Daniel’s face, cupping both of his cheeks and feeling the smooth skin against his palm. Daniel placed his hands on both of Johnny’s knees, turning his head to the side to deepen the kiss.</p><p>They stayed there for what felt like hours, just the two of them, kissing softly and just enjoying the other’s company. Just the two of them, not worried about whatever was going to come next. And whatever it was, they’d make it, together.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you all liked this one! I wanted to have a chapter of them being adorable together &lt;3 I can’t wait to write the next one</p><p>Also, I wanna thank everyone for their comments, I appreciate all of them &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11 - The Best Around</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Two days until the tournament, what could possibly go wrong?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Things get a little smutty in this chapter, that’s why the rating changed to M. I hope it doesn’t suck too bad 😂</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The closer it got to the tournament, the more nervous Johnny got. It was in two days now, and he was not looking forward to it, not at all. Him and Daniel still haven’t talked about it, trying to avoid an argument.</p><p>The only time the tournament was even remotely mentioned was when Daniel asked if they could try to spar without it ending in a heated make out session. And that’s what they were doing now, sparring in Daniel’s living room. They moved the couch to the side so they’d have an empty space, enough room so they wouldn’t break anything. They’d just move it back before Lucille got home. </p><p>Daniel was right when he said he got really good at karate. Johnny thought he might even have a chance at winning the tournament. (He’d never say that out loud, though).</p><p>And of course, Daniel looked hella attractive in a gi. It was hard not to jump him where he stood. Johnny wanted to push him down on the mat and start kissing him hungrily. Because fuck, Daniel doing all these karate moves was turning him on. Neither one of them were going easy on the other, either. They were showing off all their best moves, checking each other out and trying not to end the session like they always did, on the floor with their tongues tied together.</p><p>Daniel noticed Johnny was getting more distracted by the minute, and assumed it was because of him. He wasn’t dumb, he knew what he did to Johnny, and he decided to take this to his advantage, knocking the blonde over when he wasn’t paying attention. Johnny almost accused him of cheating, only stopping once Daniel got down on the floor with him.</p><p>“Got ya.” Daniel smirked as he got on top of Johnny, clutching his gi in his palms and straddling him. If Johnny was turned on before, he was really turned on now. He wanted to tear off Daniel’s gi and do things that he’s so far only dreamt of doing. And he would’ve, if he hadn’t promised to not get carried away before they started. He liked the look Daniel had in his brown eyes as he looked down at him, like he was proud that he could kick ass. And honestly, Johnny was proud of him too. (But he’s still be able to kick Daniel’s ass any of the week if he wanted too).</p><p>“That’s my boy.” Johnny said in admiration, looking up at his boyfriend. He wondered if Daniel knew how much this was turning him on. He didn’t realize sparring and then being ‘tricked’ and straddled would end up being so endearing. Daniel looked back at him, a soft smile on his face and his doe eyes sparkling.  He leaned down to kiss Johnny, only giving him a peck since they agreed to actually spar. A little kiss wouldn’t hurt.</p><p>“Wanna see my newest move?” Daniel asked as he got off of Johnny, holding out a hand to help him up. Johnny was ready for another round so he could be the one knocking Daniel off his feet, but he wanted to see what other moves he had. He almost yanked Daniel back on the floor with him, you know, to do certain things, but instead he took his hand and ignored the hard-on he was now stuck with.</p><p>“Sure. I bet I already know it.” Johnny went to the other side of the rug they were pretending was a mat. The blonde crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows at Daniel, who had that usual annoying, cute smirk on his face.  Johnny was convinced that he knew every move there was, and would know what Daniel was going to do.</p><p>“Probably not.” Daniel winked at him before getting into a position that Johnny had never seen anyone do in all of the years he’s been in Cobra Kai. Johnny got closer to him, raising an eyebrow as he examined what the other boy was doing. He was up on one leg, his other leg halfway sticking out and both arms held up in the air in a weird way. Daniel looked like some kind of fucking bird, and Johnny fought the urge to laugh at him.</p><p>“What the hell are you doing?” Johnny kept staring at him, making sure not to get too close to where he’d accidentally get kicked. He wasn’t sure how far Daniel could go with this kick, since he was only balanced on one foot. He was prepared to catch him if he stumbled over.</p><p>“It’s a crane kick, you idiot. You do this and then you kick, like this-“ Unfortunately, Johnny was standing too close and when Daniel demonstrated the kick, Johnny got kicked straight in the head, and it wasn’t a soft kick either. That kick was full of force and that shit HURT. The next thing Johnny knew, he was on the floor seeing stars and groaning in pain, clutching his face and laying on his stomach. Daniel cursed himself and ran over to Johnny, kneeling down next to him and hovering above him with a worried look on his face.</p><p>“Oh shit! I’m so sorry, babe!” That was not supposed to happen. Daniel was mortified. He’d been practicing the crane kick for weeks, failing every time, and of course the one time he finally got it right, he ended up kicking his boyfriend in the head. </p><p>“Jesus Christ, LaRusso. You tryna kill me?” Johnny groaned as he rolled over, his hands still on his head. It definitely wasn’t the hardest he’d ever been kicked, but it still hurt like hell.</p><p>Daniel helped him sit all the way up and cupped his chin, studying his face, making sure there was no huge damage. He had a bruise and it looked swollen, making Daniel feel guiltier. At least it would be covered by his bangs, but that didn’t help the fact that Daniel felt terrible for accidentally kicking him.</p><p>“I’m sorry! Here, let me go get some ice!” Daniel got up and ran to the kitchen, searching the freezer for an ice pack. Boy, was he going to have to listen to Johnny complain later. He couldn’t blame him, it must suck getting kicked in the head, but Johnny really was an expert at annoying him.</p><p>“That hurt like a bitch. That should be an illegal kick.” Johnny complained as Daniel came back over with an ice pack, placing it on his forehead. Daniel rolled his eyes at the other boy, holding the ice pack to his head. At least now he knew that he could do it, and it was not illegal, he could hit anything above the waist.</p><p>“Don’t be a baby.” Daniel remarked, earning a slight chuckle from Johnny. That’s exactly what he would say if it were Daniel who he kicked in the head. He’d also be constantly apologizing and smothering him with kisses. Which was what Daniel would be doing if he wasn’t too afraid of hurting him.</p><p>“You just swan kicked me in the head.” Johnny pointed out, his head still throbbing from the kick. Daniel hoped he was just uneducated, and that he didn’t have any brain damage.</p><p>“It’s a crane kick, stupid. And I’m sorry!” Daniel exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Johnny’s shoulders from the side and placing a kiss on his cheek. Johnny smiled to himself, despite the headache he had. At least he could get more kisses out of it.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. Pull that at the tournament and you’ll definitely win. Even though it should be illegal.” This was the first time that either of them had directly brought up the tournament. Daniel thought maybe he kicked Johnny in the head too hard, but really the blonde decided maybe it was time they talked about what would happen after. Like if he would stay in Cobra Kai, and other things like that.</p><p>“Anything above the waist is legal.” Daniel murmured. He definitely planned to do the crane kick, if he could master it. Even though he could do it without falling now, he was still nervous because of the tournament. He knew Johnny wouldn’t purposely go hard on him and try to hurt him, and Bobby probably wouldn’t either, but the others? Daniel wouldn’t put it past them. Especially Dutch. Johnny told him about the last few tournaments, and how he had gotten disqualified. He liked to break the rules and Johnny was worried he’d do something extra bad to Daniel.</p><p>“Mmm. You won’t win against me though. I know all your moves. Brat.” Johnny teased, grinning widely, trying to lighten up the situation. But when he looked at Daniel, he saw that the other boy looked conflicted. His grin faded and he turned around to fully face Daniel.</p><p>“Johnny...” Daniel looked up at him nervously, not knowing exactly what to say. He didn’t want them to have to fight. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like if they got to the finals and it was just the two of them.</p><p>“Yeah?” Johnny regretted bringing up the tournament. This was the conversation he was dreading, but it was also one that they needed to have. Neither one of them spoke for a moment, not knowing what to say. Finally, Daniel sighed and decided to say something.</p><p>“You know we have to fight each other, right?” Obviously. As competitive as Johnny could be, he still didn’t want to have to beat Daniel in the tournament. He was worried that Kreese was going to make him do something bad. Johnny liked to play fair and win without cheating, there’s a difference between mercy and honor.</p><p>“Yeah, I know.” Daniel winced as Johnny spoke, imagining the worst for tomorrow. The concern wasn’t just about who would win, it was mostly about how they would win. This wasn’t sparring, it was real, especially considering Kreese and some of the other Cobras took it way too seriously.</p><p>“I don’t want to fight you, Danny. But we don’t have a choice.” Johnny sighed, moving his hand to gently brush over Daniel’s. He couldn’t back out, not two days before the tournament. Kreese would never go for that. </p><p>Daniel had a million things to think about, a million worries that were making him frustrated because there was nothing he could do about them. And his frustration usually fueled his temper.</p><p>“What happens if you guys win? You heard your sensei, it’ll be open season.” Daniel shuddered as he thought about what Dutch and the other Cobras have done to him before. He had a feeling that if he lost the tournament, things would get even worse. Hell, just fighting against them in the tournament would be bad enough.</p><p>“I won’t let them touch you. If they try anything I’ll kick Dutch’s ass again.” Johnny had done that many times, and it never seemed to work for long. For what it was worth, he still had no problem kicking Dutch’s ass. And maybe if they won, Dutch would finally lay off. Maybe.</p><p>“I can defend myself, you know.” Daniel snapped, pulling his hand away and turning his back towards Johnny. The blonde wasn’t suggesting Daniel couldn’t defend himself. Daniel knew that Johnny realized he could fight, he was just annoyed right now at their situation. And when he was annoying he lashed out, sometimes at people who didn’t deserve it. That was one thing him and Johnny had in common, they were both hot-headed.</p><p>“I never said you couldn’t.” Johnny replied dryly, rolling his eyes at the other teen. He knew Daniel could defend himself, he could probably kick Dutch’s ass with some of the moves he had. But really, he wasn’t a professional and he couldn’t take multiple Cobras at once, he couldn’t fight the goons that Dutch would probably bother him with. Johnny couldn’t fight them all either, but at least he was around them more and would notice if they were going to do anything.</p><p>“Look, I don’t want this stupid tournament to cause problems between us-“ Johnny was cut off as Daniel spun back around, ready to ask the question that he know he shouldn’t ask.</p><p>“Why can’t you just quit Cobra Kai?” Daniel questioned, his voice full of anger. Johnny looked appalled that he even suggested that. He thought about quitting after the tournament, but again, there was no way he could do that before it was over. He had no idea what Kreese would do if he did that, and he didn’t want to find out. He thought Daniel understood that.</p><p>“It’s not that simple, LaRusso. I can’t just quit.” Johnny said bitterly, standing up. Daniel stood up too, not being able to look into Johnny’s eyes. He had more questions that he knew would make Johnny upset, and he just couldn’t stop himself from asking.</p><p>“Do you care about it more than me?” Daniel asked before thinking. Now Johnny was just offended. Daniel should know that Johnny cared about him, and LOVED him, more than life itself. He didn’t say anything, he couldn’t find the right words to say, he was hurt but he didn’t want to say anything he’d regret, like he usually would. He just kept staring at Daniel with an unreadable look on his face. </p><p>After what felt like minutes, Johnny just shook his head and walked out of Daniel’s apartment, slamming the door behind him. He needed some time to cool off, he did not want to deal with his right now. This was exactly why he wanted to avoid talking about the tournament. He didn’t want this to come between them.</p><p>Daniel realized he made a mistake the second he saw the look on Johnny’s face. He knew that Johnny loved him, he knew that he came first, he knew it wasn’t easy for him to just leave Cobra Kai like that, he just wasn’t thinking, he let his anger get in the way. All he was worried about was the tournament and the aftermath, he didn’t want to go through it, and he didn’t want Johnny too either.</p><p>“Wait I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. Johnny-...” Daniel followed him out of the door, but Johnny was already getting on his motorcycle and starting it. The dark haired bot felt a pang of guilt for the second time that night. This wasn’t supposed to happen.</p><p>Daniel decided to just go back inside and wait for Johnny to come back. The moment he did, Daniel would apologize for this entire night.</p><p>~</p><p>An hour later, Johnny found himself back at the apartment. He couldn’t stay mad for long, and actually he was more upset than pissed off. He was upset because of this entire situation, and Daniel being upset wasn’t helping either. And that’s why he came back, they were both upset and they needed to talk about it.</p><p>The blonde got off his motorcycle and made his way to the door, knocking a few times before backing up and leaning against the railing. A few seconds later Daniel opened it, slightly smiling when he saw that it was Johnny. Johnny smiled back, but it was a sad smile. Daniel closed the door behind him and put his back against it, not breaking eye contact with Johnny.</p><p>Neither of them could decide which one would speak first, so Johnny just chose to do it, since he was the one who usually acted first.</p><p>“I can’t quit Cobra Kai. Not right now.” Johnny admitted, looking away from the other teen. Daniel sighed and moved next to him, distancing themselves by a few inches.</p><p>“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that, man.” Daniel knew Johnny couldn’t quit right now, even if he wanted to. And he did, he did want to quit. He was tired of Kreese and tired of the other Cobras and tired of getting worried every time someone mentioned the tournament. He just wanted to finish off his senior year with Daniel by his side, not having to worry about any of this bullshit.</p><p>“I’m just scared of what Kreese will do if I quit before the tournament. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Johnny’s voice cracked at the thought of something bad happening. The tournament was terrifying enough but what could happen if Daniel didn’t show up or if he quit would be even worse. Johnny was terrified just thinking about it. Daniel cupped the side of Johnny’s face and turned his head so that they were looking at each other. He could see the fear in Johnny’s cerulean eyes and felt another pang of guilt. </p><p>“I’m sorry.” Daniel caressed Johnny’s cheek with his thumb, trying to comfort him. He just wanted this to be over so they could just be-...well, they could just be them.</p><p>Johnny decided that he was definitely going to quit after the tournament. He’d do his best to win, and whether he did or not, he was quitting and then Kreese wouldn’t be his problem anymore. He’d still have to deal with Dutch and the others at school, but that was school, they couldn’t get away with much of anything there. And that was only for a few months. After graduation, he would never have to deal with Dutch again.</p><p>“Stop apologizing. I’ll quit after the tournament, okay? I don’t want to be there anymore but I can’t quit right now.” Johnny leaned over and kissed Daniel’s cheek, letting him know that this was okay, he understood why he was so worrisome, and why it came out as him being pissed off instead of concern. It was just a small argument, which all couples had. They’d be alright, they always would be.</p><p>“Okay.” Daniel smiled as Johnny pulled away and grabbed both of his hands. Johnny admired how his class ring looked on Daniel’s finger, he was convinced he hadn’t took it off since he got it, and just that thought alone made him happy.</p><p>“And to be perfectly clear, I don’t care about Cobra Kai more than you. I don’t care about anything more than you. I love you. You got that?” Johnny confessed, leaning closer to Daniel’s face to where their noses brushed together, their lips centimeters apart.</p><p>“Yeah. I know. I love you too, John.” Daniel closed the space between their lips and kissed him gently. It only lasted a few seconds, solely because Johnny felt the need to say something else.</p><p>“Whatever happens tomorrow doesn’t change how I feel about you. If you beat me or if I beat you, things aren’t changing between us.” For once, Johnny didn’t care about winning. He just wanted this to be over. He would think of their fight as a ‘friendly competition’, like the little ones they had when they went to Golf N Stuff.</p><p>“I know. I got it. Let’s just try our best and whoever wins, wins.” Daniel replied as he nodded in agreement. Johnny was hoping they could just avoid fighting each other until they got to the finals, and hopefully neither of them would make it to that point, even though they were both going to still try their best. He knew it wasn’t the best thing to wish for, but honestly, who wanted to fight their boyfriend?</p><p>“It’ll be me though.” Johnny teased, the least they could do was pretend they were just sparring and the points were worth nothing. That would be hard to do with people cheering and the referee blabbing about rules and Kreese trying to get him to play dirty. But he could try.</p><p>Daniel playfully rolled his eyes and leaned forward again, just giving him a small kiss. They pulled away for only a second, smiling at each other before Johnny crashed his lips against Daniel’s. Daniel’s hands traveled to the both sides of Johnny’s face, and Johnny wrapped his arms around Daniel’s waist, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.</p><p>“Let’s go inside. I wanna spend some time with you before tomorrow.” Johnny said as he broke the kiss, taking Daniel’s hand and leading him back inside the the apartment. They wouldn’t be able to spend the day together tomorrow, since it was Daniel’s birthday and he would be with his mom for most of the day, and then later he planned to go over to Mr. Miyagi’s place. Daniel told Johnny they could meet up when he got back, and that they could spend the night together, but Johnny would have to leave in the early hours of the morning to get ready for the tournament.</p><p>They locked the front door and went to Daniel’s room, shutting the door behind them. They didn’t want Lucille to come home and catch them making out, which had almost happened a few times. She knew they were dating, but no one wanted their mom to walk in on them making out with someone.</p><p>“Is your head still okay? You have a bruise.” Daniel asked as Johnny flopped down on the bed, not bothering to change his clothes since his mom told him he had to be home around 8pm. She was starting to suspect that he was seeing someone, but he managed to avoid her questions. He wasn’t about to tell her the truth, he could never risk Sid finding out.</p><p>“It’s fine, Danny.” Honestly, it did still slightly hurt, but Johnny didn’t want Daniel to keep feeling bad about it, since it was just an accident. A very unfortunate accident.</p><p>Daniel nodded and started changing, deciding to wear one of the many hoodies that he stole from Johnny. The other boy stared up at the ceiling, beginning to laugh to himself at whatever the hell he was thinking about. Daniel walked over to the bed and layed down next to him, looking at him quizzically.</p><p>“Ain’t love a kick in the head.” Johnny said between laughter, thinking about this song he heard one time that had those exact lyrics. How ironic. Daniel rolled his eyes at him, starting to believe he gave the idiot a concussion.</p><p>“Did I give you a concussion?” Daniel wondered out loud, half-joking and half-serious. Johnny just flicked him off as they turned to face each other.</p><p>“No, your deer legs aren’t that strong, Bambi. That did hurt like hell, though. You asshole.” Johnny started laughing at the embarrassed look on Daniel’s face that he got every time Johnny said he looked like a deer, or called him Bambi. Deep down he knew it was true, but it still made him flush.</p><p>“I’m sorry, it was an accident!” Daniel playfully smacked Johnny’s chest, pretending to glare at the other boy, only making him laugh louder. Johnny scooted closer to him, wrapping an arm around his lower back and pulling him closer.</p><p>“Just kiss me. Then I’ll forgive you.” They both knew he wasn’t even mad in the first place, he just wanted an excuse for another kiss, even though he didn’t need one. He never needed one. But, Daniel was always happy to comply.</p><p>They both leaned forward at the same time, their lips smashing together and sliding over each other smoothly. They decided to just spend the time they had left that night just laying there and making out, holding each other close and breathing each other in. Johnny smirked against Daniel’s lips, the other boy having no idea what he was planning for tomorrow.</p><p>~</p><p>Daniel looked out the window excitedly as he waited for Johnny to arrive. Today was probably one of the best birthdays he’s had, so far. He had a car now, Mr. Miyagi had let him choose one out of the all the cars he had in his backyard, since Daniel had been fascinated with them since the day he saw them. He couldn’t wait to tell Johnny about it.</p><p>And it looks like now would be the time. Johnny pulled up in his Firebird, and Daniel watched as he got out, an average sized box in his hand. As soon as Johnny stepped into the apartment, Daniel excitedly ran into his arms and hugged him tightly, his arms wrapped around Johnny’s neck. Johnny hugged him back with one hand, smiling against Daniel’s shoulder.</p><p>“Happy birthday, babe.” Johnny said as he broke the kiss, pecking Daniel on the lips. It wasn’t enough. Daniel wanted more.</p><p>“Thanks. I’m glad I got to finally see you.” Daniel didn’t waste another moment and pressed his lips against Johnny’s, grabbing the blonde by his hair to pull him closer. Johnny could tell the doe-eyed boy was needy and hungry for affection, and he loved it. Daniel would definitely love what he had planned for tonight. But for now Johnny kissed him back, his free hand making it’s way down Daniel’s back.</p><p>“So can I have my present?” The dark haired teen asked as he broke the kiss, much to Johnny’s disappointment. Oh well, there would be plenty of time for that later. For now he’d just give Daniel what was in the box.</p><p>“Hold on, Bambi.” Johnny grinned and walked past him to get to the couch, Daniel following behind him like a lost puppy. The two sat on the couch, not even the slightest bit of personal space between them. Johnny handed Daniel the gift, the latter’s eyes lighting up with excitement.</p><p>Daniel opened it, surprised when he saw a brand new Atari. He’d wanted one for a while, but he didn’t really have the money to buy it. Johnny did though, so he decided to go ahead and get it for him. </p><p>“An Atari? Johnny, that’s way too much, I can’t accept this-“ Daniel couldn’t believe Johnny had gone and spent this much money on him. And this was actually his own money, not Sid’s. Johnny wanted it to mean something, so he payed for it himself. It was no big deal, he loved Daniel and that’s why he wanted to make him especially happy today. Daniel was always too humble and felt bad when someone bought him something that cost a lot of money.</p><p>“You don’t have a choice. Come on man, you have to accept it.” Johnny insisted as he put his arm around Daniel’s shoulder. Daniel smiled gratefully at him, leaning forward and giving him a quick peck on the lips.</p><p>“Thank you. You’re really the best boyfriend, you know that?” Daniel couldn’t ask for anyone better. And it wasn’t because of the present, it was because of what a sweet and thoughtful person Johnny was, even if Johnny didn’t want to admit it. He’d been paying attention when Daniel rambled on about random things, him wanting the Atari being one of them. And he went out of his way to buy it with his own money.</p><p>Daniel wrapped his arms around Johnny’s neck and kissed him, not knowing how to thank him. Johnny didn’t do this just for kisses, again, he did it because he was in love, but the extra affection would be a plus. Daniel was always extra affectionate with him as a way to thank him for something and it was just something else to love about the boy.</p><p>“I know. You are too. I have something else for you.” Johnny pulled something from his pocket, surprising Daniel once more.</p><p>“Something else? Johnny-“ Before Daniel could go on about how it was too much and how he shouldn’t have gotten him anything else, Johnny grabbed his palm and flipped it over, opening it so he could drop something in it.</p><p>“Here. I also got you this keychain. Don’t even complain about it being too much. I got it for you because you deserve it.” Johnny said truthfully. Daniel admired the small keychain in his hand, it was a cute little trinket shaped like a bonsai. Or a ‘little tree’, as Johnny called it.</p><p>“I love it. Thanks, babe. It’s perfect because....well, guess who now has a car?” Daniel held on to the keychain with one hand and dragged Johnny up with the other, pulling him to the window so he could point out his new car.</p><p>“Really? You have a car? Do you even have a license?” Johnny asked as he was practically shoved against the window. He looked at the car that Daniel was pointing at, and he was actually impressed. He didn’t know where he had gotten a vintage car that was in that good of shape.</p><p>“Shh...I’m still working on that.” Daniel laughed as he walked to the kitchen table, where he put his keys.</p><p>“Right. Just don’t crash it, you dork.” Johnny watched as Daniel clipped the keychain on his car keys, trying to build the nerve to act on what he wanted to be the third present.</p><p>“Shut up. I love you, idiot.” Daniel sat his keys back down, and walked over to Johnny. He wanted affection, only his affection. Daniel leaned up and kissed him again, craving the feeling of Johnny’s lips against his own.</p><p>“I love you too. That’s why there’s one more thing I want to give you, but only if it’s okay with you.” Johnny explained nervously, feeling his heart beat faster as what he was suggesting.</p><p>“Another present? What is it?” Daniel couldn’t possibly imagine what else Johnny had got him. He hadn’t quite caught up with the plan yet. Johnny smirked to himself, knowing he’d just have to show Daniel what he had in mind.</p><p>“I’ll show you.” Johnny grabbed Daniel’s wrist and led him up to his room, shutting the door behind him and locking it. Lucille wasn’t here right now, she had to pick up another shift tonight, which was fine since she’d spent most of the day with her son. But still, they didn’t know when she’d be home and Johnny didn’t want to take any chances.</p><p>The second the door was locked, Johnny captured Daniel’s lips, grabbing the other boy’s hips and pulling him close. Daniel kissed him back with just as much passion, letting Johnny push him back onto the bed.</p><p>Johnny crawled on top of him, taking a second to admire his face before hungrily kissing him again. Daniel spread his legs and wrapped them around Johnny’s waist, allowing him to get closer. The blonde’s tongue licked along Daniel’s bottom lip, causing the other boy to open his mouth to give him entrance.</p><p>This was when it got tricky. Johnny hadn’t done anything like this with a guy before, so he wasn’t sure where exactly he should start. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to do, he just wanted Daniel to have some fun. He didn’t have plans to go all the way, but he wanted to do something to make a Daniel come.</p><p>Johnny just decided to start by breaking the kiss and leaning back, lifting his shirt over his head and taking it off. He knew that Daniel had a thing for his muscles, his abs being the main thing that got him drooling. Daniel started to realize what Johnny was suggesting.</p><p>“Oh...oh, I get it...” Daniel was slightly nervous, he had no experience when it came to stuff like this. The dark haired teen felt himself drooling when Johnny took his shirt off, not being able to resist reaching out and caressing his abs. Johnny smirked down at him and let his hands move to the bottom of Daniel’s shirt, looking at him once to make sure he had permission to take it off. Daniel just nodded, not being able to speak.</p><p>Johnny pulled Daniel’s shirt over his head and tossed it across the room, leaning back down to kiss him once he did. As the kiss deepened, Johnny’s hands traveled down to the waistband of the other boy’s pants, his nerves increasing as he got closer to his goal.</p><p>“This okay?” The blonde asked, wanting to make sure it was completely okay if he did this. </p><p>“Yes. Please.” Daniel could feel himself growing harder by the second. He needed Johnny to touch him. Johnny slid down his pants with one swift move, tossing them too, not really caring where they landed. He was too focused on what he wanted to do to Daniel.</p><p>Daniel’s boxers came off next, Johnny deciding at the last minute to tease him and slowly pull them off. He liked seeing Daniel squirm beneath him. He gave in a few seconds later, pulling them all the way off. He marveled at the sight of his boyfriend completely naked, laying out in front of him. He licked his lips at the sight of Daniel’s cock, he’d seen other’s before in the locker rooms but, this was the only one he wanted to do things too. Johnny was about to lean down and kiss his lips again when Daniel stopped him.</p><p>“Take yours off too. Now.” Daniel ordered, causing Johnny to bite his lip. He listened and started undoing his belt, Daniel watching as he did.</p><p>“You ever done anything like this before?” Johnny questioned as he moved to the side of the bed so he could easily get his pants off. He wondered if this would be Daniel’s first time doing anything like this.</p><p>“Nope.” Daniel answered honestly. He was a one-hundred percent virgin. He’d kissed girls, sure. But as far as going any farther than that? This would be the first.</p><p>It was definitely not the first time for Johnny. His first time was with Ali, and he was much more nervous now than he was then. He loved her, but he’d only done it since that’s what couples usually did.</p><p>This time it felt special. They didn’t have to do anything, but he wanted to since he was truly in love with Daniel. They weren’t going to full-on do it, since they still had some questions when it came to who would do what. Johnny’s goal for tonight was to get him off, by touching him or maybe using his mouth.</p><p>“I’m surprised, Danny, a babe like you being a virgin. But hey, can’t say I’m disappointed.” Johnny pulled down his own boxers, biting his lip to keep from moaning as his erection sprung out. He was finally completely naked as well, climbing back on top of Daniel. Daniel licked his lips as he took in the sight, admiring what a babe he was with.</p><p>Johnny started kissing him again, shoving his tongue in the other boy’s mouth. They kissed roughly this time, but it was just as passionate. Johnny’s hand found it’s way to Daniel’s bare cock, gently running his fingers along his length. It wouldn’t be too difficult to get him off, Johnny knew how to touch another dick, he had one of his own and he touched himself quite often. (Always thinking about Daniel).</p><p>“Johnny...mmm...” Daniel gasped as Johnny wrapped his hand around his cock and started stroking it, moving his hand up and down slowly, in a teasing way. It felt so good that Daniel almost came instantly. Johnny seemed to already know how he liked to be touched.</p><p>“You like that, baby?” Johnny asked as he increased his pace, causing Daniel to moan softly and close his eyes. Johnny started kissing his neck as he continued to stroke him, increasing the sensation.</p><p>“Yes...oh yes...” Daniel moaned as Johnny started licking and kissing downward, making his way down his chest, his stomach, and to his hips. He sucked and bit him there, marking him in a place that only he would ever get to see. </p><p>“Then you’re gonna like this even more.” Johnny stopped jerking him off and moved himself down instead, flicking his tongue against the tip of Daniel’s cock. Daniel had to cover his own mouth to stop himself from moaning louder, Johnny’s tongue just felt so warm and wet against his cock. He had obviously touched himself before, but that pleasure was nothing compared to what Johnny was making him feel now.</p><p>And it only got even better as Johnny leaned his head up and fully took Daniel’s cock in his mouth, going about halfway down before stopping. He’d never done this before, he’s never even had it done to himself, but it wasn’t bad at all. He wanted to do it, for Daniel. He wanted to make him feel good.</p><p>Daniel looked down at him, the sight of Johnny’s warm, wet mouth around his cock and the suction of his lips around it felt fucking amazing. Daniel reached his hand down and ran a hand through Johnny’s blonde locks, stroking his hair as he continued moaning, doing his best to stay quiet.</p><p>Johnny was savoring every single sound that Daniel was making. He started touching himself to it, all as he continued to suck Daniel off. He hummed against his cock, the vibrations from his mouth combined with the warmth and wetness was driving Daniel crazy and making him moan louder.</p><p>Daniel felt a familiar heat at the pit of his stomach, feeling himself getting close to coming. Johnny could tell he was getting close by the way he was breathing so he took Daniel’s cock out of his mouth and started jerking him off again, quickening his pace.</p><p>“John, I’m com-...fuck...!” Daniel held his head back as he came hard, loads of come shooting out of his cock and onto his stomach, completely covering it. Johnny continued to stroke him through his orgasm, feeling Daniel’s cock throb in his hand. Hearing the sounds Daniel made as he came made Johnny come too, breathing heavily as he buried his face in the sheets, his come erupting into his hand. He wasn’t moaning loudly like Daniel was. Daniel’s moans were actually VERY loud, so Johnny had to lean up and kiss him so he’d quiet down. They didn’t want to disturb the neighbors, and they still weren’t sure if Lucille had gotten home yet.</p><p>“Quiet d-down, Danny.” Johnny whispered against Daniel’s lips, their foreheads pressed together as he was still trying to breathe normally after his orgasm. He couldn’t believe he came so hard just from the sight/sound of Daniel getting off, barely even touching himself at all. </p><p>“Sorry...that just felt so good...” Daniel was panting, trying to catch his breath again. Johnny still wasn’t recovered himself as he flopped down next to Daniel, both of them staring up at the ceiling. Their hands found each other’s, squeezing tight as they tried to come back from the best orgasm they’ve both ever had.</p><p>“Thanks for that...” Daniel rolled over, his head finding it’s usual spot on Johnny’s chest. Johnny wrapped both of his arms around Daniel, holding the other boy close. Johnny would never own up to it, but he loved cuddling with him, and it was even better after experiencing something as amazing as what they just did.</p><p>“I love you so fucking much.” Johnny whispered, for some reason he was getting sort of emotional. He figured it was because he’d never felt love like this before. He’d never felt anything so real. He was truly in love with Daniel.</p><p>“I love you too.” Daniel squeezed him closer, snuggling into Johnny’s warmth as he pulled the blanket over the two of them. This was for sure one of the best birthdays that Daniel’s ever had.</p><p>~</p><p>Twenty minutes later, they’d already almost talked themselves out, both still exhausted from the events of earlier. They put their sleepwear on and unlocked the door so Lucille wouldn’t get suspicious, and now they were just laying in bed and cuddling.</p><p>“I’m pretty sure what you did earlier was the best present I’ve ever gotten. Thanks again for that.” Daniel couldn’t thank him enough for everything he’s gotten him. He was still feeling effects from what Johnny did to him earlier.</p><p>“Hey, any time. I mean it.” Johnny smirked, letting his hand rest on Daniel’s lower back, but it traveled even farther down. The blonde wouldn’t let his tiredness stop him from getting handsy.</p><p>“And you know, I’ll do the same for you one day. Maybe soon.” Daniel teased, softly kissing Johnny’s neck.</p><p>“You trying to break my dick, LaRusso?”</p><p>“Nope. There’s use for it in the future.”</p><p>“Fuck you.”</p><p>“You want too, don’t you?”</p><p>Johnny loved how dirty Daniel was walking right now, but he was tired and both of them needed sleep. They had almost forgotten about the tournament tomorrow. (More like later that day).</p><p>“Jesus Christ. Stop talking dirty before you get me hard again. Go to sleep.”</p><p>“You like it.”</p><p>“Hell yeah I like it. But we need to go to sleep, Danny. The tournament...it’s tomorrow. Today, technically.” Johnny sighed, not looking forward to it. They’d had their fun and now they had to face what they’ve both been dreading. The possibilities of how it could turn out were endless and it worried Johnny even more as the time got closer.</p><p>“Shit. You’re right.” It was silent for a moment, the only sound being heard was Johnny’s heartbeat against Daniel’s ear.</p><p>“Are you ready?” Johnny asked, running his fingers through Daniel’s soft, thick dark hair. He didn’t feel ready. He still planned to put effort in, beating his opponents if he could, but when it came to Daniel, he didn’t think he’d ever be ready to go against him.</p><p>“I think so. You?” Daniel was ready to fight the others, but not Johnny. He was just trying not to think about it.</p><p>“I guess. Remember, whatever happens-“Johnny started to say that whatever happens, it won’t change them, but Daniel beat him too it.</p><p>“I know. It won’t change a thing about us.” Those words were enough to reassure them both for now. Johnny kissed the top of Daniel’s head, squeezing him tight, like he never wanted to let go. Daniel shut his eyes, enjoying the feel of Johnny’s arms around him and loving the warmth of his embrace. And if he had it his way, they’d be doing the same thing tomorrow, no matter what the outcome was.</p><p>Because whatever happened, they’d make it. Together.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>God, I hope that smut wasn’t that awful XD I have never posted one and I haven’t written one in a while so I hope it wasn’t horrible</p><p>I hope everyone liked this chapter &lt;3 the next chapter is the tournament</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12 - The Tournament</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It’s finally time for the tournament, how will things go?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one is so long XD I wanted to make it good since it’s the last chapter. I hope it doesn’t suck XD</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The day of the tournament had finally arrived, and both boys were dreading it. Johnny had to leave Daniel’s place at around 7am, which was way too early for anything. He stalled as much as he could, exchanging sleepy kisses with Daniel and not wanting to leave the warmth of his embrace. Daniel let him stall for about twenty minutes, unable to resist the other boy’s soft kisses. But they couldn’t do that forever, unfortunately they both had to get ready for the tournament. Well, at least Johnny did.</p><p>Johnny was slightly late when it came to getting to his dojo, the result of stalling. Kreese gave him a dirty look as he walked in, and made him do an extra fifty knuckle push-ups. He also made them do some last minute training before the tournament, Johnny bring completely unfocused the entire time. Kreese wouldn’t accept failure of any form. He wanted them to win and he didn’t care how. He was going to push them. </p><p>Daniel didn’t have to train early at all, wanting to save all of his energy for the tournament. When it was time he headed towards the tournament with Lucille, not ready to compete in the slightest. They met Mr. Miyagi and Ali there, the latter wanting to come for support. She agreed to cheer for both him and Johnny, and if they were both in the finals then she’d just not say anything, since she was friends with them both now and didn’t want to discourage either of them.</p><p>The four of them walked into the building, Lucille already heading towards the sidelines and the other three going to the front desk.</p><p>“You ready?” Ali asked as they stood in line, noticing Daniel was distracted. His lips were slightly parted and his eyes were glazed over as he stood there, lost in space, worried about Johnny, worried about the outcome of the tournament, worried about everything that had to do with today.</p><p>“I guess so.” He wasn’t sure if he would ever be ready. Fighting in the tournament was nerve-wracking on it’s own, but the possibility that he might have to fight Johnny? Fucking terrifying. Especially considering the fact that everyone would be watching them.</p><p>Daniel wished he could slow down time, but it felt like that was the polar opposite of what was really happening. Time kept zooming by, and the next thing he knew he was standing in the middle of the locker room, getting ready at the speed of a slug, his movements becoming laggier as he thought about today more.</p><p>He thanked the stars no one else was in here, specifically the Cobras. He didn’t feel like dealing with them, not any more than he had too. Daniel knew he’d have to go against several of them in the tournament, and that wouldn’t have been a problem, if it weren’t for Dutch, who got a kick out of pestering him ever chance he got. The doe-eyed hoped they’d already came in here and he wouldn’t have to deal with them.</p><p>But of course, things didn’t work out that way. Daniel turned around to see Dutch, Bobby, Jimmy, and Tommy walk in, already ready for the tournament. Dutch has his usual annoying smirk, Jimmy and Tommy had unreadable expressions, and Bobby looked uncomfortable. Daniel scowled at the sight of Dutch and turned back around, trying to ignore him.</p><p>“Well well well, look who we have here, fellas. Our little friend Danielle.” Dutch provoked. It never failed, he took every chance he got to annoy Daniel. It was aggravating.</p><p>“Knock if off, Dutch.” Bobby snapped, even he didn’t feel like dealing with Dutch today. He was tired of him always picking fights with whoever he could, sometimes even starting something with someone who so much looked at him the wrong way.</p><p>“Who asked you, Bobby?” Dutch ignored him, walking closer to Daniel, who was still flat out not listening to him. He wasn’t intimidated by him anymore. He could kick his ass if he wanted too. And not to mention if Johnny was here, they’d kick his ass together.</p><p>“What’s the matter Danielle, mommy not here to dress ya?” Dutch didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t getting any reaction from Daniel. The whole point of coming in here was to mess with him before the tournament, to piss him off and mess up his game a little bit. It wasn’t working.</p><p>Daniel continued ignoring Dutch, only making him madder. Neither one of them noticed that Johnny had just walked into the room, and was now leaning against the wall and watching the ordeal, raising an eyebrow. The other three boys eyed him cautiously, knowing that any time him and Dutch were in the same room that he’d up fighting, and Johnny would end up winning. Mainly because he’d kick his ass extra hard if the fight was about Daniel, which it usually was. Dutch just couldn’t leave it alone. Johnny tensed as he watched Dutch walk closer to Daniel, preparing himself to jump in at any given moment.</p><p>“Hey I’m talking to ya, punk!” Dutch shouted as he roughly shoved Daniel. Daniel caught himself and got into a fighting stance, ready to punch Dutch straight in the face. But, Johnny beat him to it, storming over to them the second Dutch put his hands on Daniel. He knew Daniel could handle himself, but he was too pissed to stop himself from grabbing Dutch and throwing him away from Daniel.</p><p>“Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Him.” Johnny yelled as he slammed Dutch against the lockers. Daniel crossed his arms and stared at the two of them, smirking cockily at Dutch. Sometimes he felt like Johnny could be his personal body guard, even though he didn’t need one. It was always cute to see Johnny trying to protect him, and it sure as hell was fun to watch Dutch get pushed around.</p><p>“I’m not scared of you, you pussy.” Dutch sneered, trying to get out of Johnny’s grip but having no luck. Johnny was about to teach him another lesson about what he would do if he kept messing with Daniel, raising a fist and holding it inches from Dutch’s face, but a referee just had to come in and interrupt them, not giving him the chance.</p><p>“HEY! That’s enough, you wanna get disqualified? Get out of here!” The referee barked, pulling Johnny off of Dutch and shooing the other boys out of the room.</p><p>“Points or no points. You’re dead meat. Both of you.” Dutch glared at them as the referee led him out of the room. Johnny stayed behind, flicking Dutch off as he left.</p><p>“I’m not scared of that asshole.” Johnny remarked as he turned back around to face Daniel, who was lightly smiling at him. This would be the last conversation they got to have before the shit-show started.</p><p>“I know. Me neither.” Daniel paused after saying that, not knowing what else to say. Johnny sighed and walked closer to him, looking around to make sure no one else was in here. He wasn’t going to try anything, not here, but he still wanted to make sure no one was listening in, just in case something did happen.</p><p>“Whatever happens, remember that it won’t change what’s between us. I’m not letting them get to my head.” Johnny knew that Kreese was going to try to get to him. He knew the things his sensei was capable of, and none of them were good things. The man had corrupted him, turning him into something that he never wanted to be. Johnny wasn’t that guy anymore, he didn’t want to be, but sometimes he still worried that Kreese would make him go back to that. Angry, unhappy, a bully. Someone that Daniel wouldn’t want to be with.</p><p>Daniel knew that they couldn’t get to him, not again. Johnny had changed the moment that Daniel came into his life. And that was enough for Daniel to trust that he wasn’t going to listen to them, he wasn’t going to go back to the person he was before.</p><p>“I know. I trust you.” Daniel smiled softly at him, brown eyes full of affection. Johnny couldn’t resist him anymore and moved forward, wrapping his arms around Daniel. Daniel hugged him back, as tight as he possibly could. Johnny buried his face in Daniel’s hair, holding him tight and breathing in his familiar scent. He didn’t want to let go. He wished this entire thing was over and they could just finish off the year together. </p><p>“Johnny? We’re supposed to meet up with the other guys...” Bobby said from the doorway. Johnny was glad it was him who walked in and not any of the others. That wouldn’t have ended well. They already suspected that there was something more than friendship between him and Daniel, they played dumb, but they weren’t completely oblivious.</p><p>“I’ll see you during the tournament, babe. Good luck.” Johnny broke the hug, much to the disappointment of both of them. Normally when he wished someone good luck he didn’t mean it, being the competitive person that he was, but this time it was different, he truly meant it, because it was Daniel. And, he’d most likely have to do against Dutch, and that could end violently.</p><p>“Good luck to you too. You’ll need it.” Daniel winked at Johnny as he followed Bobby out of the room, the blonde playfully rolling his eyes and smirking until he was out of sight. Daniel left the room a few minutes later, unsure if he was ready for this. It didn’t matter if he was or not, he’d still have to go through with it. There was no way out.</p><p>~</p><p>When Daniel met back up with Ali and Mr. Miyagi, he hadn’t expected them to be holding a black belt. It was weird, since Mr. Miyagi always told him that real karate didn’t have belts, but he guessed he needed one for the tournament. He didn’t question where they got it from.</p><p>The three of them had gotten to the main part of the tournament, where everyone was. Daniel gulped at the sight of all the people, this crowd was nothing compared to the soccer games he played in back in Newark.</p><p>The dark haired teen looked around as they walked to where they were supposed to stand, not being able to see Johnny yet. That was until he heard the words ‘Cobra Kai’ being chanted over again as the group of boys ran into the room.</p><p>They ran past Daniel, and of course Dutch had to be an asshole and shove him on the way. Daniel could see the hateful look Johnny was giving Dutch from behind, at this point he figured Dutch was doing it just to piss Johnny off.</p><p>“Grow up!” Johnny hissed as he shoved Dutch from behind, feeling sick and tired of him. Dutch almost turned around and tackled him, but decided against because he wanted to fight in the tournament. Johnny sent Daniel an apologetic look from Dutch’s behavior, blaming himself for Dutch bothering him. Daniel just shook his head, he didn’t blame Johnny at all. It was Dutch who was being a dick for no reason.</p><p>“They’re such jerks. I’ll see you after the tournament, okay?” Daniel forgot that Ali was still here with them. She patted his shoulder in a friendly way before running off to go stand with Lucille. Daniel wasn’t sure what to do anymore. The tournament would start soon and he was dreading it even more by the second.</p><p>He glanced across the room to see Johnny standing with the other Cobras, looking like he would rather be anywhere else. Kreese was lecturing them again, practically yelling at them about how they’d be losers if they lost. Johnny tried not to listen him, tried not to let Kreese get to his head. He looked away from him and locked eyes with Daniel, focusing on his pretty deer eyes instead of the insults Kreese was throwing at them.</p><p>About ten minutes later, the referee did the introductions, and the tournament began. The next thing Daniel knew, he was up against some guy from another dojo. How was everything be happening so fast?</p><p>Johnny watched as Daniel and the other guy started, admiring the way Daniel was moving with every hit. He never failed to turn Johnny on, no matter what he was doing. Daniel was able to beat the other guy with some quick moves, the crowd cheering him on. Johnny wanted to cheer for him too, but he couldn’t. Kreese was standing right next to him and the other guys were scattered around him, and he knew none of them would like it if he did that. So he just had an almost invisible grin on his face, making eye contact with Daniel has he got off the mat. Daniel smiled back at him, discreetly so no one would notice.</p><p>The next one to go up was Bobby, who easily beat his opponent. He seemed a little on edge, probably from all the pressure that Kreese was putting on them. Out of all the Cobras, Bobby and Johnny were the two that usually ended up in the finals, along with Dutch if he didn’t cheat. Let’s just say Kreese made sure to put extra pressure on them.</p><p>Johnny was up next, quickly beating the guy he was up against. He could feel Daniel watching his every move, which actually encouraged him. Daniel was obviously checking him out. Johnny did a quick glance over his shoulder at the doe-eyed teen, his usual smirk present on his face.</p><p>Daniel had to go against another Cobra after that. Johnny knew it was probably bad to root against his own teammate, but he found himself wanting Daniel to win. He wasn’t even thinking about what would happen if him and Daniel both made it to the finals. Or maybe he just wasn’t worried, since it was only the beginning of the tournament. Daniel did have some pretty nice moves, though.</p><p>The next round was Jimmy versus another random guy, and Jimmy lost that match. Johnny had to go again after him, being able to kick his opponent’s ass without any effort. Daniel smiled as Johnny won, the blonde looked even more adorable when he was determined.</p><p>Daniel went next, getting kicked off to the sidelines by one of the Cobras. Another Cobra went next and he lost, followed by Bobby who also got kicked to the sidelines. Bobby ended up beating him, and Johnny could tell he was trying to not go by what Kreese taught him and continue beating the guy. He almost did, but luckily he stopped himself. It was hard for them to keep their self control during the tournaments, mostly because of what Kreese had taught them. No mercy.</p><p>It was Daniel versus Tommy after that, and now Johnny was starting to get nervous because he knew they didn’t like each other. Tommy wasn’t as violent as Dutch, but he still didn’t like Daniel for making Johnny a ‘softie’. In the end, Daniel won the match, leaving Tommy to curse as he walked back to the rest of the Cobras.</p><p>Guess who just happened to be against Daniel next? Dutch, of course. He looked a little concerned once he saw what Daniel could do, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. Johnny couldn’t stop the smirk that had formed because of how nervous Dutch looked.</p><p>“I hope you lose, you fucking dickhead.” Johnny mumbled so that only Dutch could hear him. Again, he knew it was bad to say that to your teammate, but when it came to Dutch, Johnny didn’t really care. The guy was an asshole and Johnny hoped he lost. Dutch looked back at him, a staggered expression on his face. So this was what it came to, the guy he once considered one of his best friends, rooting against him? And for what, some wimpy new kid that was infatuated with? The thought made Dutch livid.</p><p>“Fuck you.” Dutch growled, pushing past Johnny and going to the mat. He had a shit-eating grin on his face, like he always did when he was about to do something bad. Johnny was really starting to get nervous now, digging his nails into his arm and biting the inside of his jaw. Dutch liked to play dirty, and when it came to someone he hated, things could get ugly real fast.</p><p>Dutch got Daniel with the first hit, kicking him in the face. Johnny flinched at first, but then he realized that that kick had no effort. Johnny had been kicked in the face by Dutch before, and it looked more powerful than that (nothing was more powerful than that damned crane kick, though). And Johnny knew Daniel was tough and he’d easily come back with something much worse. Johnny was glad that Dutch was underestimating him, his own cockiness was going to make him lose. Daniel ended up getting the second point by doing the same move and kicking Dutch in the face, the difference being this time it was ten times the effort. Kreese looked away at that point, probably planning to later degrade Dutch for being a ‘failure’. Johnny kept watching, however, wanting to see Dutch get what was coming to him. Johnny smirked to himself as Daniel won, watching his cute baby face light up with pride. He also found amusement in listening to the sounds of Dutch curse as he pushed past the other Cobras and left the room.</p><p>Johnny realized that they were now in the finals. It was him, Bobby, Darryl, and Daniel. Johnny really hated that Darryl guy, since he had beat him in his first tournament, which resulted in him being viciously put down by Kreese and even Sid, who always had a thing or two to say when Johnny failed at something. Of course Johnny had beaten him in the last two tournaments, but he still held that grudge. He’d never forget the fact that Kreese had really let him have it after he lost, making sure Johnny was never going to lose again.</p><p>The blonde thought that was the most of his concerns, until he turned his focus away from Darryl and realized that him and Daniel had both made it to the finals. He could feel his nerves being shot, knowing that this could be the moment in which they had to fight against each other.</p><p>Luckily, Johnny got matched up with Darryl, meaning Daniel and Bobby would have to be the ones who would fight. Johnny didn’t know what he wanted to happen at this point, all he knew was that he didn’t want to fight Daniel if they both made it to the absolute finals, but he also didn’t want to root against Bobby. So, he let his conflicted feelings turn to anger as he met Darryl on the mat.</p><p>Needless to say, Johnny went extra hard on him, not letting Darryl get a single point in. Daniel watched as Johnny ruthlessly fought him, a little worried about how angry he was. He didn’t like seeing Johnny like this, not at all. The look in his eyes was sort of scary.</p><p>After he won, Johnny didn’t feel the sense of victory he usually got after he beat Darryl. Instead, he was worried about what was going to happen when Daniel and Bobby fought. The look in his eyes turned from pure anger to fear, alarming Daniel, who continued to watch him from the sidelines. He couldn’t imagine how the other boy must feel right now, the pressure that he must be under. He just wanted to get him away from all of it, but he couldn’t go near him right now, it was too dangerous.</p><p>Bobby gave Johnny a reassuring look, letting him know that he’d play fair. Johnny felt better knowing that they’d both play clean, and whoever won would be just that. If Bobby could see it like that, so could Johnny. He felt calm for the first time since the tournament started.</p><p>That was, until Kreese spoke up, leaving Johnny even more fearful than he was before.</p><p>“Bobby. I want him out of commission.” Kreese said sternly, right as Bobby started to stand up. Johnny looked at Kreese like he had grown two heads, and Bobby looked horrified. Out of commission meant injure someone to the point to where they can’t function properly. And in this case, Kreese was probably referring to somehow injuring Daniel’s leg or knee, even though anything below the waist was illegal. Johnny felt himself tense up just thinking about it. He wanted to yell at Kreese about what a terrible idea this was, but he knew better than to do that.</p><p>“But sensei, I can beat him-“ Bobby tried to argue back, but that was no use when it came to Kreese, he was manipulative and intimidating. Johnny was growing more and more anxious by the minute. He was terrified thinking about what was going to happen.</p><p>“I don’t want him beaten.” Kreese replied, that snarky look on his face that he always had standing out more than ever. Johnny could feel his heart beating faster, looking between Kreese and Bobby frantically as they argued. This couldn’t be happening. The fact that Kreese only wanted Bobby to hurt Daniel without beating him was bad enough, but the fact that there was nothing either of them could do about it, because they were too afraid of Kreese? Even worse.</p><p>“I’ll be disqualified!” Bobby was trying to do whatever he could to get out of doing this. He knew if he didn’t purposely seriously injure Daniel, Kreese would beat the hell out of him and then he would be banned from the dojo. And no one wanted to suffer one of Kreese’s beatings. All of the Cobras have had to at one point or another, and it wasn’t fun. It was like being admitted to a gang, brutal and unfair and you could barely get up afterwards.</p><p>“Out of commission.” Johnny could feel himself breathing heavier, and he felt like he was shaking. There was no room left for discussion. Bobby gave Johnny an apologetic look before getting up and stomping to the mat. He was actually going to do it. Daniel sent Johnny a look that asked ‘what’s going on?’, but Johnny looked away, not being able to look into Daniel’s doe eyes. </p><p>Johnny didn’t know what to do. This was exactly what he was talking about, exactly what he was scared of this entire time. Kreese was once again playing dirty to get what he wanted, but this was probably one of the worst things he’s ever made someone do. Johnny didn’t want to watch this. He didn’t want to stand there and watch his boyfriend get seriously injured, being unable to do anything about it. This was what he was trying to protect Daniel from. He couldn’t let this happen. He wouldn’t let this happen.</p><p>The blonde looked back at Daniel, who was now looking at the referee as they had to bow towards him. Johnny felt himself shaking violently, knowing this mess was about to start. This tournament was a disaster and Johnny didn’t want to be a part of it anymore. The whole reason he had took part in these was so he could win with honor and feel good about himself for once. But that was the complete opposite of what he was feeling now, he felt useless. He had to stop it. Johnny started to step forward to head towards the mat, wanting to grab Daniel and get him the hell out of here, away from all of their problems, away from Kreese.</p><p>“Where do you think you’re going?” Kreese grabbed Johnny by the front of his gi, stopping him in his tracks. Johnny looked at his sensei, doing the best to hide the fear in his eyes, because everyone knew what Kreese thought about fear. Kreese let him go and pushed him back, squinting his eyes at him before turning back to the match that was about to happen before them. Johnny couldn’t move.</p><p>Johnny bit his lip nervously and looked to the mat, where Bobby and Daniel were about to face off. Daniel looked so innocent, having no idea what was coming to him. And Bobby?<br/>Bobby looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. He didn’t want to do this, he wanted to fight with honor and dignity, but he was being forced to do something that stood against everything that he believed in.</p><p>Johnny looked back at Kreese, wanting to smack the smug look off of his face. Johnny couldn’t believe he was saying this, but he was really starting to despise the man that he once saw as a father figure. He never knew that joining Cobra Kai and following his teachings would cause this many problems in the future. Johnny regretted ever being associated with them.</p><p>Bobby and Daniel got into their fighting positions, and Bobby was already feeling really guilty from what he was about to do. The referee said to start, and Johnny could see Bobby hesitate for a moment. He looked like he was about to cry at what Kreese was making him do. Johnny watched as Bobby jumped in the air and kicked Daniel under his legs, wanting to tear his eyes away, feeling frozen in place. Johnny winced as Daniel cried out in pain, clutching his leg as he layed on the floor, not being able to get up. The blonde felt like he was about to pass out from how petrified he was from what he just saw. This was the last thing he wanted to happen.</p><p>“Daniel, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry!” Bobby exclaimed as he kneeled down next to Daniel, examining the other boy’s look of extreme pain. He regretted what he just did, he really was sorry. He never wanted to hurt anyone. He kept apologizing until he felt the referee grab him and pull him away, leading him out of the gym. That was when Bobby considered leaving Cobra Kai. He should’ve done that a long time ago.</p><p>“Disqualified!” Johnny was panicking. Since Bobby had been disqualified, that meant he had to fight Daniel in the next round while he had a possible broken leg. Johnny couldn’t breathe as he watched Daniel get put on a carrier and being carried into the locker room, his cry of pain echoing in his head.</p><p>The coach announced that Daniel had fifteen minutes to decide if he still wanted to fight, and if he didn’t then Johnny would be the champion for a third year in a row. Kreese looked satisfied, but Johnny looked distraught. He didn’t care about winning. He cared about Daniel. He needed to know if he was okay.</p><p>Johnny couldn’t take it. He ran after Daniel, ignoring Kreese yelling at him, protesting against him leaving, but Johnny wasn’t going to let that man stop him from making sure Daniel was okay.</p><p>~</p><p>Johnny followed them into the locker room, trying to go to the bench he was resting on, but he was blocked by one of the guys who was working at the tournament.</p><p>“Aren’t you with the dojo that did this to him?” The guy asked, scorn in his voice. Johnny looked past at him and saw Mr. Miyagi, Ali, and Lucille looking at him, although he couldn’t read the expressions on their faces. He couldn’t see Daniel, but he was ready to knock this guy out if that’s what it took.</p><p>“No-...no, let him in...” He heard a voice croak, immediately knowing it was Daniel. He pushed past the referee, running to the side of the table and staring down at his boyfriend.</p><p>Daniel looked like he was truly in pain. He was gently shaking, wincing in pain. Johnny couldn’t stand seeing him like this, he would gladly take his place. It was like his worst fear had just come true. Johnny could feel everyone looking at him, so he looked away from Daniel and back at Lucille and Ali, who looked sad and disappointed, and at Mr. Miyagi, who looked concerned about Daniel but other than that he showed no emotions. Were Lucille and Ali mad at him because of this? Johnny didn’t blame him if they were. He blamed himself for getting Daniel dragged into this mess. If he hadn’t hung out with him so much, if he hadn’t fought Dutch to defend him so many times, if he hadn’t fallen in love with him, this would’ve never happened.</p><p>“I’m sorry. I swear I had nothing to do with that.” Their gazes softened. They knew it couldn’t possibly be his fault, though they could tell he thought it was. </p><p>“We’ll give you two some time alone...” Lucille said, gesturing for Ali and Mr. Miyagi to follow her out of the room. The second they were gone, Johnny kneeled down next to Daniel, placing a hand on his forehead.</p><p>“Baby...I’m so sorry. This is my fault-...”Johnny’s voice cracked as he ran his hand through Daniel’s soft, dark hair. He felt horrible. Daniel didn’t blame him for any of this, it was Kreese’s fault, no one else’s.</p><p>“It’s not your fault, babe. And tell Bobby I’m not mad at him either. I know it’s Kreese making you guys play dirty.” Daniel finally understood the extent of what Johnny was talking about when he said Kreese was a really, really bad guy (which was an understatement). Now he fully knew the truth about why Johnny was always trying to protect him, and why he tensed up whenever Daniel came around Kreese. He understood why Johnny did everything that he did, and why he was so terrified of him. The man was bad news. He couldn’t imagine what Johnny had to go through with him.</p><p>“I can’t fight you like this. I won’t.” Johnny simply wouldn’t do it. He knew he’d possibly get beaten up, probably bad enough to the point where he couldn’t walk, but that was a risk he was willing to take. He couldn’t fight Daniel, not while he was hurt like this. He would never want to hurt him more.</p><p>“You have too, John.” Daniel sighed, reaching his hand up so it could rest against Johnny’s cheek. He didn’t want Johnny to have to suffer because of him. He’d risk his leg getting even more damaged, as long as it would protect Johnny. He’d do anything for him, in fact, Daniel was convinced that he’d die for Johnny. (They’d die for each other, they really would).</p><p>“No. I hate seeing you in pain and I don’t want to hurt you even more.” Johnny wanted to cry at the thought of hurting Daniel in any way, shape, or form. Fighting him in this state would be too much for him to handle. He didn’t think he could physically bring himself to do it.</p><p>“Then don’t. That was an illegal kick. If you don’t touch my leg I’ll be fine, baby.” That still wasn’t enough to reassure Johnny. The blonde wasn’t sure if anything would.</p><p>“Danny...” Johnny trailed off as Daniel continued caressing his cheek, the dark haired boy’s touch could usually soothe him, but it wasn’t working this time. Daniel could feel Johnny shaking against his cheek, trembling with fear.</p><p>“Please, Johnny. We have to do this. This shit really hurts, but I can make it.” Daniel didn’t really think he could do it, his leg was in tremendous pain, but he would try for Johnny’s sake. Johnny was more important to him than his own well-being. But it was the same for Johnny, who was just as stubborn as he was.</p><p>“I know you can. I just-...I just don’t want to hurt you.”</p><p>“You won’t.” Daniel declared, quickly pulling his hand away from Johnny’s face as the guy from earlier walked back in. Johnny sighed, knowing there was nothing he could do to convince Daniel. He’d just have to do it, he’d probably end up going easy on him because of his leg, but regardless, they’d have to fight.</p><p>“Come on, Lawrence. LaRusso, you think you can fight?” The guy had to practically drag Johnny back out, nudging him out of the locker room and back towards the mat. Johnny looked back at Daniel, a pleading look in his cerulean eyes. Don’t do it, he thought, don’t make me fight you.</p><p>“Yeah, I can.” That was it. There’d be no getting out of this.</p><p>~</p><p>It took another few minutes for Daniel to come back to the mat, limping as he attempted to walk back out. Johnny was already waiting on the mat, cringing once he saw the limp. The last thing he wanted to do was make it worse.</p><p>“All right, we’ve reached the finals. The title match will determine who the next champion will be. Daniel LaRusso, Miyagi-Do Karate versus John Lawerence, of the Cobra Kai.” </p><p>Daniel limped to the mat, standing a few feet in front of Johnny. The blonde eyed his boyfriend nervously as they slowly turned towards the referee, bowing towards him before turning back to each other. They stared intensely into each other’s eyes as they bowed towards each other. The environment was tense. Johnny looked terrified, and Daniel just looked like he was in pain. This was it. They were going to have to fight, despite the circumstances.</p><p>“Get him a body bag! Yeah!” Johnny rolled his eyes at Tommy, who always had something unusual to say. Normally he would find it amusing, but not when he was about to go against his boyfriend. He fucking hated everything about today. He wanted it to all be over.</p><p>Johnny and Daniel got into their fighting positions, not breaking their eye contact. The referee blew the whistle, signaling that the match was on.</p><p>“Sorry.” Johnny mumbled as he ran towards Daniel, aiming as high as he could and attempting to hit him anywhere above the waist. He wasn’t going near the leg.</p><p>But Johnny was distracted, his game was off, and Daniel was able to block every hit. Johnny knew he’d hear it later from Kreese about his ‘weak’ kicks, but he wasn’t going to deliberately hurt Daniel. He said he’d do his best, but that was before he injured his leg. If he was gonna be forced to fight, then he wouldn’t fight like he usually would, full of force. Not a chance.</p><p>Daniel felt like he was stumbling everywhere, even as he was blocking Johnny’s half-assed hits, even though his movements were hard to control. The two of them ended up at the edge of the mat and Daniel tried to strike him, but he slipped and ended up hitting him too hard, causing Johnny to almost double-over. Daniel ended up getting that point, sending Johnny an apologetic look as they got back to their original positions. He didn’t mean to hit him that hard. Johnny just shrugged it off, knowing he couldn’t really control how hard he was hitting because he was literally stumbling around.</p><p>Daniel got the next point too, roughly knocking Johnny over and falling next to him with his arm held out, causing the blonde to hit his head on the floor. Daniel winced as he got up, feeling another pang of guilt at the sight of Johnny trying to get off of the ground. Johnny struggled as he got up, lifting a hand to his face and feeling blood under his nose. His nose was bleeding and it hurt pretty damn badly. Daniel felt even worse once he saw the blood, wishing he could run over to him and shower him with affection to truly apologize. But he couldn’t do that, Johnny wouldn’t want him to do that in front of everyone. Daniel wished they never got into this stupid tournament situation.</p><p>“I’m so sorry.” Daniel mouthed as Johnny sat up, wiping the blood from his nose. If it were anyone else but Daniel, Johnny probably would’ve gotten up and given them an even worse bloody nose in return, but he wasn’t going to do that. Not to Daniel.</p><p>“Time out time out, go to your sensei.” Johnny stood up and looked at Daniel, noticing the other boy’s eyes were filled with guilt and regret. Johnny just shook his head at him, pretending the pain was not as bad as it looked, not wanting to make him feel even more awful. He wasn’t mad, he knew it was an accident. He’d been hit worse than this before, anyways.</p><p>Johnny walked over to Kreese, expecting a lecture. His sensei examined his face, and Johnny wanted to flinch away from him, but he knew what would happen if he did that. Kreese looked at his ‘top student’, beginning to catch on about everything, although he wasn’t sure if he was right or not. He could tell by Johnny’s movements that he didn’t want to hurt Daniel, and he’d figured out the reason Dutch and Johnny were fighting so much was because of him too. Whenever Daniel was in the room, Johnny seemed distracted, and Kreese didn’t like that. And he knew exactly what he was going to do to put an end to this, whatever it was.</p><p>“Sweep the leg.” Kreese ordered. Johnny froze. He wanted to be shocked at what Kreese just told him to do, but he wasn’t. It didn’t help the fact that he didn’t want to do it. Johnny looked at Kreese like he was crazy, searching his sensei’s face for any sense of humanity, not even shielding the panicked look on his face.</p><p>“You have a problem with that?” Kreese snapped, feeling himself grow more annoyed at the look on his face. He was scared, and he wanted to ‘show mercy’, which meant he was a pussy.</p><p>Johnny did have a problem with that. A huge problem, actually. Kreese was ordering him to purposely injure the guy who he was in love with. And if he didn’t do it, he’d pay for it later. Johnny didn’t want to do it, not in the slightest.</p><p>“No, sensei...” Johnny said reluctantly. He did not want to do this, but did he have a choice? Daniel glanced over in their direction, seeing the horrified look on Johnny’s face. He immediately guessed that Kreese was trying to make him do something terrible. The question was whether or not Johnny would listen to him.</p><p>“No mercy.” Johnny had never been more afraid of Kreese in his entire life. The man smirked as Johnny walked away, looking back at him with a fearful expression.</p><p>Johnny honestly considered doing it. There were a million things he knew Kreese would do to him if he didn’t. Was Daniel worth it? Johnny knew if he did what Kreese said, he’d probably ruin his relationship with Daniel. Daniel would hate him for breaking his knee and wouldn’t want anything to do with him. And Johnny couldn’t stand the thought of it, not one bit.</p><p>The past few months that he spent with Daniel flashed through his mind. The day they met, the first time they spent the night together, the Halloween party, their first date, their first kiss, them getting together and everything after that. Every kiss that was full of love, every look that was full of admiration, every touch that was gentle and full of affection. He could see Daniel’s soft baby face, his big brown deer eyes, his smooth tan skin, his bright, pretty smile. Johnny thought about how Daniel made him feel, how no one else had never made him feel like that. He felt loved, he felt appreciated, he felt like someone cared about him. And he was happy, truly happy, for the first time in his whole life.</p><p>They say you only get a love like this once in a lifetime, and this was Johnny’s. Daniel was the one for him, and it would stay that way. He’d fight for it to stay that way.</p><p>Johnny decided that yes, Daniel was worth it. He was worth everything, he meant that much to Johnny, and Johnny would die for him if it ever came down to it. Their relationship was something that couldn’t ever be replaced, Johnny would never find another person like Daniel in his lifetime. And he didn’t want to. He just wanted Daniel. Johnny wasn’t going to let him go. He wasn’t going to do it.</p><p>“No...no, I’m not going to fight him! Forget this!” Johnny shouted, the entire room going silent, the only sound being the gasps of some people. Daniel looked at him, wide-eyed, confused, and shocked. What was he doing? Didn’t he know that if he quit now, something bad would happen to him? Daniel’s gaze traveled to Kreese, who was fuming.</p><p>“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Lawerence?” Kreese yelled, earning surprised glances from some of the audience. Johnny turned around to face him, every trace of fear being gone. On the inside, he was still scared, but on the outside he looked like he wasn’t afraid of anything, he looked confident, even. Kreese used to be like a father figure to him, and Johnny truly thought he cared about him. He realized now that he was wrong, and Kreese was just as much of a loser as Sid. Johnny wouldn’t be manipulated by him, not ever again.</p><p>“You want me to break his leg, I’m not gonna do that, man! No way! And I’m not gonna listen to you anymore! I sure as hell ain’t scared of you! I’m done with Cobra Kai, and I’m done with you!” The entire audience was shocked, people were whispering to each other and looking at Kreese, and at Johnny. Johnny was aware of the risk he just took, but there was no going back now. He had done it, he had made his choice and he didn’t regret it.</p><p>“I quit.” Johnny concluded, stepping off of the mat. The referee looked at him, as if he was asking if this was what Johnny really wanted. The blonde nodded, turning his attention to Daniel who looked bewildered from this entire ordeal. He couldn’t believe what Johnny just risked for him, what he just gave up. Daniel was worried for him, but he also couldn’t fight the feeling that washed over him. It was love. Pure, real love. It made him happy that Johnny loved him enough to risk this for him.</p><p>“Daniel LaRusso wins by default! We have our new champion!” The crowd stayed silent for only a second, before erupting into loud cheers of excitement, people running towards Daniel.</p><p>“Well, looks like you won!” Ali exclaimed as she hugged him, in a friendly way of course. Daniel awkwardly smiled at everyone, he may have won by default, but he was still the winner to them. He looked around the crowd, trying to spot Johnny. He wanted to run into his arms and thank him for this. He wouldn’t have liked a broken knee, and he was glad Johnny didn’t go through with it. He’d just have to protect him from Kreese, who looked like he was about to explode. </p><p>“Damn right he did.” He finally saw Johnny, making his way through the crowd, holding the first place trophy. He handed it to Daniel, who was lodged between a few people. Daniel looked back at him with so much admiration and appreciation, a look that always made Johnny feel good. Daniel didn’t care about the trophy, he just cared about Johnny. All he wanted was Johnny.</p><p>Daniel handed the trophy to Mr. Miyagi and ran towards Johnny, doing his best to ignore the pain in his leg as he limped. Johnny met him halfway, catching him as he almost tumbled forward. Daniel grinned widely and wrapped his arms around the slightly taller boy’s neck, practically jumping into his arms and hugging him as tight as he possibly could. Johnny hugged him back, smiling into his hair. He didn’t care how it looked to everyone else, he was too happy to focus on anything but Daniel right now.</p><p>“Thanks for not breaking my leg.” Daniel said as he separated himself from Johnny, only enough so that they could fully see each other’s faces. Johnny looked as good as ever, an adorable smile on his face and a gleam in his blue eyes. And Daniel looked as cute as he always did, his lips naturally parted and his brown eyes wide with pure happiness. Johnny couldn’t resist placing his hands on either side of Daniel’s face, softly caressing his skin. Daniel’s eyes lit up at the touch, one hand moving down to Johnny’s waist, the other being placed on the back of his neck, touching his hair. This was what they wanted to do all day.</p><p>“I’d never hurt you. Never.” That was a promise that Johnny would never break. The blonde smiled as he stroked Daniel’s cheek with his thumb, looking at the loving gaze in his deep brown eyes.</p><p>“I’m so sorry for giving you a bloody nose. I didn’t-“ Daniel started to apologize, but Johnny cut him off. It didn’t even hurt anymore. He was just happy that this was over, he didn’t care about his nose bleed, which wasn’t even there anymore. Besides, he was more worried about Daniel’s knee than he was about anything else. It looked like it pained Daniel to simply stand up straight. Johnny couldn’t take away the pain no matter how much he wanted to, but he could make it easier.</p><p>“Don’t apologize. I think I’m okay now.” Johnny leaned down and gently scooped Daniel up by the back of his legs, deciding to pick him up so he wouldn’t have to stand anymore.</p><p>“Johnny!” Daniel laughed as Johnny held him bridal style, grinning at him. Daniel playfully rolled his eyes at being picked up again, but he secretly liked it. It sure as hell took away some of the pressure on his knee. And besides, he loved the feel of Johnny’s muscular arms around him. He sighed in contentment and rested his head against Johnny’s chest, feeling comfortable in his embrace.</p><p>“I love you, baby.” Johnny declared, looking fully serious now. He didn’t care who heard him. Actually, he wanted people to hear him. He should be able to do that, he should be able to tell Daniel he loves him without worrying about anyone berating them.</p><p>“I love you too.” Daniel whispered, reaching his hand up to run his hand through Johnny’s hair. He couldn’t believe Johnny was showing this much affection in public, they never did anything more intimate than just walking shoulder-to-shoulder. But now Johnny was leaning down to kiss him, not a care in the world.</p><p>“Wait Johnny, people will see.” Daniel placed his hands on Johnny’s chest, preventing the boy from reaching his goal. Johnny just smiled down at him, shaking his head. That wasn’t a problem anymore.</p><p>“I don’t care about that. Not anymore.” He didn’t give a flying fuck about what other people thought. The only exception was Sid, who could send him off to some military school if he wanted to, but the old man wasn’t here so he wasn’t a problem. And Johnny was allowed to be with Daniel if he wanted too, screw what anyone else thinks. If someone didn’t like it, they could go fuck themselves. He didn’t care anymore.</p><p>Daniel never cared about what people thought. If someone had a problem, he’d kick their ass. He was in love with Johnny, and he wasn’t ashamed of that.</p><p>“Then kiss me.” It felt like they were the only two people in the room. The crowd was gone, Kreese was gone, and it was just them. Johnny leaned back down, finally pressing his lips against Daniel’s. </p><p>And suddenly everything felt right. Really, really right. Johnny felt free. Truly free.</p><p>“Oh my god!” They heard someone yell, followed by silence. They didn’t sound mad or disgusted, just shocked. Johnny continued kissing Daniel, not bothering to open his eyes to see the looks people were giving them. If he did, he would see that some people looked judgmental, some looked confused, and others were actually smiling at them.</p><p>They broke apart after a few seconds, smiling at each other like idiots. Johnny finally looked around at the people who witnessed their kiss. Some of them didn’t care and had already went back to their conversations, some of them looked shook and wouldn’t stop staring, and some of them gave him dirty looks before walking out. Johnny shrugged and looked towards his group of friends. Bobby already knew, so he was just slightly smiling at them. Tommy and Jimmy just looked dumbstruck, and Dutch looked like he just got hit by a train.</p><p>“I’ll see ya later, babe.” Daniel waved at Johnny as he was practically being dragged towards the locker room, probably to get his knee looked at again, and to change back into his normal clothes. Johnny just threw on his Cobra Kai jacket, he planned on keeping it even though he quit the dojo. He just liked how it looked, to be honest. Although he doubted he would wear it around here any time soon.</p><p>Lucille and Ali gestured for Johnny to follow them to the parking lot, where the rest of the crowd was going. The referee handed Johnny the second place trophy as he left, but Johnny couldn’t care less about it. He just wanted to see Daniel again.</p><p>~</p><p>Johnny saw Kreese as soon as he stepped out of the building, his former sensei glaring at him from where he stood. The other four boys stood around him, looking at Johnny nervously. Johnny rolled his eyes and walked over, knowing he’d have to confront Kreese eventually. Might as well do it now.</p><p>Daniel came out of the other side of the building along with Mr. Miyagi, who told him they were going to the hospital to get his leg scanned by a professional. He couldn’t care less about where they went after, he just wanted to find Johnny, but people kept stopping him on his way out. Some kids asked for his autograph, completely oblivious to the fact that he’d just kissed another boy in front of everyone. He’d guessed it just wasn’t a big deal to kids.</p><p>“That was really brave of you, you know, kissing him in front of everyone.” Daniel turned around to see Ali, who had just ran over to him. It was very brave, not everyone would do something like that, especially considering how things usually were for gay people right now. A lot of people thought they all had AIDs, which was fucking stupid. It didn’t matter to Daniel, it never mattered what people thought. They’d both be graduating soon and they could get out of here if they wanted to, go somewhere where they didn’t know anyone.</p><p>“I know, it was kind of risky. But he quit Cobra Kai, they can’t hurt him anymore. And I’ll make sure no one else does, either.” Daniel said as they walked towards the car. He was looking around for Johnny, he wanted him to come with him to the hospital and then to his place afterwards. It suddenly occurred to him that it was possible for Johnny to run into Kreese out here. Daniel had a feeling something was wrong and started looking around more frantically, trying to find Johnny.</p><p>Meanwhile, Johnny stood in front of Kreese, ready for the bitching he was about to listen to. Kreese looked more pissed than he’d ever seen him, and it was a little unnerving.</p><p>“Too much of a pussy to hurt your little bitch, huh?” Kreese snapped, earning an eye roll from Johnny, who was ready to punch his former sensei. No one was going to talk about his boy like that without getting a black eye in return.</p><p>“Don’t talk about him like that! I did my best until you wanted me to cheat!” Daniel heard Johnny shout from across the parking lot. By now him and Mr. Miyagi were standing at the car, so he looked through the window, and saw Johnny and Kreese in a heated debate. They were yelling so loud that he could hear them clearly from where he stood.</p><p>“You’re nothing, you lost, you’re a loser!” The words had barely any effect on Johnny at this point. He may have lost, but it was just a tournament, and it was his choice.</p><p>“No, you’re the loser, man.” Johnny retorted, making Kreese even madder. He knew by now that Kreese was the real loser. All of his teachings were fucked up and Johnny refused to listen to them ever again.</p><p>“Oh? I’m the loser? At least I’m not a faggot like you!” Kreese sneered, snatching the second place trophy and breaking it to pieces. Now Johnny was the one that was pissed. Daniel cringed at that word, feeling his blood boil at everything Kreese was doing.</p><p>“Now who’s the loser?” Daniel watched in horror as the pieces of the trophy crumbled to the ground of the parking lot. What a sick bastard. Johnny looked up at Kreese, anger apparent in his face. He was sick of his bullshit.</p><p>“You know, you’re really sick, man.” Johnny said as was about to walk away, finally leaving Kreese as a thing of the past. Daniel was still watching the whole situation, not knowing if he should intervene or not.</p><p>Then Kreese did something that Johnny honestly should’ve expected. He roughly grabbed Johnny by his jacket and turned him around, trying to pull him in his direction. Johnny tried to get away, but Kreese was older and stronger and managed to put him a chokehold.</p><p>Johnny struggled against him, barely being able to breathe. He felt all of his air being squeezed out of him, his face starting to turn red from the lack of oxygen. Daniel was terrified as he watched, fearing for Johnny’s life. This was what he risked for him. Daniel quickly started limping towards them, feeling himself stumbling but not caring, he just wanted to get Johnny away from that man.</p><p>“Hey come on, let him go!” Bobby stepped forward to try and get Kreese off of Johnny, but Kreese shoved him back, still keeping Johnny in the chokehold with his other arm. People were watching, but no one was doing anything to try and help. It didn’t make sense, why wasn’t anyone else trying to stop him?</p><p>“How does second place feel now, huh?” Kreese mocked as he tightened his grip. Johnny couldn’t breathe at all now. Daniel was attempting to run as fast as he could towards Johnny, not realizing that Mr. Miyagi was following him. Even he was fed up with Kreese.</p><p>“Stop it, you’re hurting him!” Tommy also tried to step in, seeing this go down made him realize what a horrible person Kreese was, and what type of people he was turning them into. He didn’t want to be someone like that. He didn’t care that Johnny was into Daniel, not anymore. But Kreese pushed him back too, still keeping that same grip on Johnny.</p><p>“You’re gonna kill him!” Jimmy exclaimed, beginning to make his away around the car to try to help Johnny. He was done with this shit too. Even Dutch was realizing how fucked up this all was. He couldn’t bring himself to look at what was happening. Meanwhile, Daniel had finally managed to get over to them, although he was struggling to stand.</p><p>“Let him go! You asshole! Don’t touch him!” Daniel screamed, sending a punch towards Kreese, who easily caught it and pushed him back. </p><p>“What are you gonna do, you little fag?” Kreese sneered as he backslapped Daniel, sending him to the ground and making his grip on Johnny even tighter. Johnny felt like he was about to pass out. He did everything he could to try and get away, but none of them seemed to have any effect on Kreese. </p><p>“Just let him go!” Daniel wasn’t going to let anything stop him from helping Johnny. He was already back on his feet, like the hit had no effect on him and like his leg wasn’t even hurting anymore. But before he could attempt to strike him again, Mr. Miyagi stepped in front of him, confronting Kreese himself.</p><p>“Let him go.” Mr. Miyagi said calmly, giving the man one last chance to let Johnny go. Kreese wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.</p><p>“Beat it, or you’re next.” Kreese laughed, not bothering to release Johnny, whose eyes were shut tightly as he tried to breathe, but to no prevail.</p><p>Mr. Miyagi didn’t waste another second and grabbed Kreese by his shirt, causing Johnny to finally be freed of his grip. He fell on the ground, coughing and trying to catch his breath. Daniel instantly kneeled down next to him, helping him turn over and sit on the ground. For once, Johnny allowed himself to cry. Kreese actually tried to kill him. Johnny hated him, he couldn’t believe he ever saw him as a father figure. He was a monster.</p><p>“Johnny! Johnny baby, are you okay?” Daniel wanted to hug Johnny, to comfort him, but the other boy needed to catch his breath first. Instead, he put a hand on Johnny’s shoulder, feeling how much he was shaking. Seeing him like this made Daniel upset like you wouldn’t believe. He wanted Kreese to burn in hell for doing this shit. Part of him felt like it was his fault, since Johnny had quit the tournament because of him. But everyone knew the truth, that it was no one’s fault but Kreese.</p><p>“He actually tried to kill me.” Johnny said as he continued to gulp for air, his voice hoarse. He finally managed to start breathing normally, despite the fact that he was uncontrollably sobbing. As soon as his breathing pattern was back to normal, Daniel wrapped Johnny up in a hug, his embrace being comforting to the blonde. Johnny buried his face in Daniel’s shoulder, letting out choked sobs as he continued to cry, his tears soaking the clothes that Daniel had changed in to.</p><p>“It’s okay, I’m here. It’s going to be okay, baby. I’m here.” Daniel soothed as he rubbed Johnny’s back, the the other boy clutching him like his life depended on it. Daniel’s touch seemed to calm Johnny down, he stopped shaking and his sobs had gotten quieter.</p><p>“I-I know...I’m okay...” Johnny mumbled, not wanting Daniel to let go of him. The two heard the sound of glass shattering next to them, and they quickly turned their heads to see what was happening. They saw Mr. Miyagi standing over Kreese, whose knuckles were bloody. Johnny noticed the broken car windows, and guessed that was what it was from.</p><p>Daniel and Johnny thought Mr. Miyagi was going to kill Kreese, but he stopped right before he hit him, instead letting the man fall to the ground. Kreese looked petrified, and that was something Johnny had never seen before. But he was glad he’d gotten what was coming to him, and so was Daniel. Daniel wanted Kreese to hurt from all of the years he’d tormented Johnny.</p><p>“You could’ve killed him, couldn’t you?” Daniel asked Mr. Miyagi, reluctantly letting go of Johnny and standing up. Daniel held out a hand so he could help Johnny up, Johnny instantly taking it and allowing himself to be pulled up.</p><p>“Hai.” The dark haired teen helped his boyfriend up, taking him back into his arms the second he was standing again. Johnny leaned on Daniel, burying his face into his neck, all of his tear-stains being dried.</p><p>“Then why didn’t you?” Daniel would’ve liked to see Kreese suffer. He hated him, more than he’d ever hated anyone. If he ever saw him again, he wouldn’t hesitate in killing him.</p><p>“Because Daniel-san, for person with no forgiveness in heart, living even worse punishment than death.” Mr. Miyagi explained. Johnny hoped he was right. Kreese deserved nothing but pain.</p><p>“Thank you so much.” Johnny nodded towards Mr. Miyagi, he would be forever grateful to him for what went down today. The man nodded back, gesturing for the two of them to follow him back to the car so they could get out of here.</p><p>“Come on babe, you’re coming with us.” Johnny slid his hand around Daniel’s lower back, planning to help him walk to the car. Daniel already had an arm around his upper back, they could lean on each other as they walked to the car. They both needed it.</p><p>“Gladly.” The two started walking, being stopped by a voice behind them.</p><p>“Wait a minute!” Daniel and Johnny turned around to see who the voice belonged to, being met with the sight of Bobby, Tommy, Jimmy, and even Dutch.</p><p>“Daniel, I really am sorry for what I did to your leg.” Bobby sounded remorseful, he still felt horrible for what happened. He was done with Cobra Kai for good. He never wanted to see Kreese again.</p><p>“Don’t worry about it, man. It’s not broken or anything.” Daniel didn’t know if that was true, but he didn’t want his friend to feel worse.</p><p>“You should probably get that checked out, though.” Johnny pointed out, only wanting the well-being of his boyfriend. Daniel didn’t get a chance to mention that they were going to the hospital afterwards. Maybe Johnny could get something for the bruised ring that was now present around his neck. The sight of that sent shivers down Daniel’s spine. He never wanted to hurt anyone more than he wanted to hurt Kreese.</p><p>“He’s right.” Bobby looked down, not knowing what else to say. He hoped his knee wasn’t really broken. The other (ex)Cobras looked at each other, deciding to speak up.</p><p>“Look, we’re really sorry for messing with you. It was wrong.” Tommy said, regretting all of the times that he’d helped Dutch bully Daniel. Even regretting encouraging him in the match. He was done with Cobra Kai, too. And it didn’t bother him that Johnny and Daniel were together, he was still the same Johnny and he deserved respect.</p><p>“Yeah man, we’re sorry.” Jimmy added, also feeling bad for joining the bullying. He also planned to leave Cobra Kai. Watching Kreese put Johnny in a chokehold was the last straw. They all should’ve realized sooner that Kreese was bad news.</p><p>Dutch didn’t say anything, he couldn’t bring himself to speak. He hated apologizing to people, in fact he was sure that he’d never apologized to anyone in his entire life, which wasn’t good.</p><p>“Me too.” Was all he said, and honestly that was the best he could do. He’d have to work on that, and maybe he’d give a real apology eventually.</p><p>“Thank you.” Daniel only halfway believed Dutch, Tommy, and Jimmy, but he’d eventually forgive them. Johnny looked at the four of them, slightly nodding to thank them. Him and Daniel turned around, limping to the car.</p><p>They snuggled up together in the backseat as Mr. Miyagi drove them to the hospital. Johnny had his head rested on Daniel’s shoulder, not wanting to leave his side. His eyes were closed and he was trying to relax, but he felt like he was slightly traumatized from what happened. Part of him still couldn’t breathe, part of him was still panicking. Daniel could tell he was still scared, and started stroking his soft, blonde hair to calm him down, which was working, his touch always calmed Johnny. Johnny knew he’d get through this with Daniel, and Kreese would be a thing of the past. The blonde leaned up and placed a kiss on Daniel’s cheek, before letting his head fall back on his boyfriend’s shoulder, so he could rest his eyes. He was fucking exchausted.</p><p>They were just happy the tournament was over. They could finally just be them.</p><p>~</p><p>Johnny accidentally fell asleep in one of the hospital chairs, waiting for Daniel to get back from his examination. He was tired, and he just wanted today to be over. He just wanted to go back to Daniel’s place and fall asleep in his bed, holding him in his arms. He tried to stay awake, but as soon as he leaned his head back on the chair, he was out.</p><p>Johnny didn’t even notice Daniel walking out with a brace on his knee, since it was just  sprain. He had a small smile on his face as he sat down next to Johnny. He took a moment to admire him, he looked adorable and peaceful when he was asleep. Daniel gently placed a hand on his shoulder, softy saying his name to wake the other boy up.</p><p>“You going to be okay, babe?” Daniel asked as Johnny slowly opened his eyes. Johnny turned towards him, looking to see what was going on with his knee. Johnny sighed when he saw the brace, hoping Daniel would recover soon.</p><p>“I’ll be fine. I’m more concerned about you, LaRusso.” Johnny remarked as he continued to look at the brace, worry present in his eyes. The blonde had a million questions, like when he would get out of the brace, if he was going to be okay, if there was anything he could do. Daniel saw the look in his eyes, instantly guessing what Johnny wanted to know. But he was worried about Johnny more than he was about himself. It was scary to watch him being choked out in the middle of the parking lot, not being able to do anything about it since he couldn’t reach him that quickly.</p><p>“My legs fine, it’s just a sprain. You’re the one who just got put into a choke hold by your ex-sensei. God, that scared me so bad, I don’t know what I’d do if I were to-“ Daniel went on, expressing how afraid he was that things would’ve gone differently, how much it sucked seeing that happen. But he was cut off by Johnny, who had leaned forward and kissed him to shut him up. Daniel kissed him back, placing a hand behind Johnny’s head to pull him closer.</p><p>Johnny knew they were going to be okay, both of them. As long as they had each other, they’d be perfectly happy. Johnny felt like he could handle anything. The kiss ended after a few seconds, them leaving only a few inches between their lips.</p><p>“Danny. I’m okay, really. As long as I have you, everything will be okay. Now come on, let’s go to your place?” Johnny whispered against Daniel’s lips. He just wanted to spend the rest of the night with Daniel, holding the other boy close as they tried to recover from the shit that went down today. </p><p>~</p><p>The two of them went back to Daniel’s place, excusing themselves to Daniel’s room as soon as they got there. They were exhausted. They tossed off their clothes as soon as they got to his bed, just wearing nothing but their underwear.</p><p>Johnny probably would’ve went straight to sleep, but instead, Daniel climbed on top of him and started showering him with touches and kisses. Johnny gladly kissed him back, letting his hands caress everywhere on Daniel’s body as the other boy layed on top of him. They got lost in each other for what felt like hours, just the two of them, lips locked together and their limps wrapped up in each other.</p><p>They didn’t go farther than that, they were far too tired. When they were done making out, they just rolled over on their backs, staring up at the ceiling.</p><p>Daniel heard Johnny sigh, lost in his thoughts. He didn’t know what he was going to do now that he was out of Cobra Kai. He was never going back, he knew that much. But what was he going to do now? Johnny needed something to do with his time, something like karate. If he didn’t have some ring to do, he’d go crazy.</p><p>“What’s on your mind?” Daniel asked as he turned over to face Johnny, who continued looking at the ceiling. </p><p>“It’s just...I’m done with Cobra Kai. It was like a second home to me. But I’m not going back after what Kreese tried to make me do. No way in hell. I’m never going back.” Johnny explained, rolling over so he could see Daniel’s silhouette in the dark. He could still see the glow in his beautiful, brown eyes. </p><p>“Good. You don’t need that place.” Daniel never wanted to see or hear the words ‘Cobra Kai’ again. He was hoping that place would get shut down, so Kreese wouldn’t be able to brainwash any more kids.</p><p>“The thing is, I know I’m going to miss doing karate...” Johnny trailed off. He loved doing karate, it calmed him down and helped him release his anger. An idea instantly popped into Daniel’s brain, causing him to sit up excitedly.</p><p>“Oh, I know! You could train with me!” Daniel knew Mr. Miyagi would gladly let Johnny train with them. He liked Johnny and thought he was good for Daniel, so he’d have no problem training him. And it would be nice to train with Johnny and be on the same side as him. He’d just have to knee his hands to himself while they were sparring.</p><p>“Mr. Miyagi would train me too?” Johnny didn’t even think about that. He’d heard from Daniel about how different Mr. Miyagi’s teaching methods were from the ones at Cobra Kai, and Johnny knew it would be an adjustment, but he’d learn to work with it. It would be fun to train with Daniel, as long as he didn’t get crane-kicked in the face again.</p><p>“Of course he would! It’ll be great, man!” Daniel thought about how awesome it would be. He’d get to tease Johnny about all the chores, he’d get to spar with him, and he could possibly end up pushing him into the pond, on ‘accident’. Johnny laughed at Daniel’s excitement, he was practically jumping up and down on the bed. Which was probably not the best idea, since his knee was in a brace.</p><p>“Okay LaRusso, calm down before you fall off the bed and break your ass.” Johnny chuckled, dragging Daniel back towards him. Daniel layed back down, using Johnny’s chest as a pillow. He listened to his heartbeat for a moment, before looking up at him.</p><p>“So you’ll train with me?” Daniel asked again for clarification, staring into Johnny’s cerulean eyes. Johnny who nodded his head as a response, after carefully considering it. He thought it would be a good idea, it would be nice to have a sensei that actually cared about him. </p><p>“Yeah, if you want me too.” Johnny smiled down at him, kissing his forehead. Daniel closed his eyes and wrapped his arm around Johnny, ready to get some sleep. But, he felt Johnny staring at him. He looked back up to see the boy staring at him with his captivating blue eyes. Johnny was getting lost in how fucking beautiful he was, not able to tear his eyes away from his boyfriend’s face.</p><p>“What?” Daniel questioned, amusement in his voice. Johnny softly smiled and shook his head, wrapping his arms around Daniel and pulling him up so that his head was against his shoulder.</p><p>“Nothing. I just-...you make me really happy, Danny.” Johnny whispered, squeezing his boyfriend closer. Daniel leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek, causing Johnny’s smile to grow wider. He’d never been happier in his entire life. And he had a feeling as time went on, that happiness would only grow. He was in this relationship for the long run.</p><p>“You make me happy too. I’m glad all of this shit is over and we can just be-...well, we can just be us.” Daniel moved to Johnny’s lips, pecking them softly. He pulled away only for Johnny to pull him back in, kissing him deeper than the first one.</p><p>“Yeah, I guess we can.” Johnny said as he broke the kiss, the smile never leaving his face. How could he stop smiling when he had so much to be happy about?</p><p>“You know, I’m glad I didn’t have to fight you. I mean, not too much.” Daniel thought about how guilty he felt after he gave Johnny that bloody nose. It had been an accident, as a result of stumbling around, but he still felt bad. It didn’t matter, though. It was in the past. They could move on with their lives, they could move on together.</p><p>“Me too. But hey, you won because I let you.” Johnny teased, lightening up the mood and earning a playful eye roll from Daniel.</p><p>“And who handed me the trophy and kissed me in front of everyone?” Daniel teased back, poking Johnny’s cheek. Johnny still felt elated from the fact they kissed in front of everyone. He couldn’t believe how much he didn’t care. He was done being afraid of letting people know who he was in love with. He was in love with Daniel LaRusso and that was that.</p><p>“I did.” Johnny leaned down and pressed his lips against Daniel’s, making up for the time they didn’t get today, even though they’d already made out earlier. Daniel kissed him back, gently tracing his tongue against Johnny’s bottom lip. The two kissed for a few minutes, Daniel being halfway on top of Johnny, and Johnny’s arms staying wrapped around Daniel’s waist.</p><p>“You think people will try and mess with us at school?” Daniel asked once the kiss was over. He was hoping they’d be smart enough not to mess with two guys who knew how to do karate. And it wasn’t like they’d show as much public affection as possible. If they wanted to hug or something in the hallways, then they should be allowed to. </p><p>“They better not. If they do, we’ll just have to kick their asses. Together.” Johnny slightly chucked at the idea of them kicking ass together, their moves being in sync. They’d always balanced each other out.</p><p>“Damn right.” Both boys laughed for a moment, Daniel’s laugh being cut off by a yawn. He settled back against Johnny, his head resting against his chest and his good leg wrapped around him.</p><p>“We should go to sleep. It’s been a long day.” Johnny kissed the top of Daniel’s head, the other boy’s dark hair tickling his lips. The blonde closed his eyes, relaxing in the comfort that Daniel’s presence brought. He felt so comfortable, so happy, so alive. So free.</p><p>“I love you, Johnny.” Daniel whispered, closing his eyes. It’s been a long ass day, but it was over now. No more tournaments, no more fights, and no more Kreese. They were safe and they had each other. And nothing would take that away. Not as long as they fought for each other.</p><p>“I love you too, Danny.” Johnny sighed as he held his boyfriend tighter. He fell asleep within minutes, dreaming about what the future would hold when it came to him and Daniel.</p><p>He didn’t know anything for sure, but he knew they’d be together. Always. Because Johnny couldn’t imagine a future without Daniel. And Daniel couldn’t imagine a future without Johnny.</p><p>This was the day that they could finally be free. The day they knew they could handle everything. The day they knew they could make it through anything, together. </p><p>This was their story, and it’s not over yet.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So that’s the end of this part of the story, there’s gonna be more. ;)</p><p>I want to thank everyone for reading and commenting, I really appreciate it! :) I hope you guys enjoyed this story!</p><p>Im kinda sad that it’s over :/ I’d like to do more with this AU, y’know, turn it into a series maybe<br/>I’m thinking about doing a KK2 AU were they go to prom together &amp; then they both go to Okinawa? Idk<br/>Or I could just go ahead and do a timeskip fic where they get married n stuff ;) I’m definitely doing that one<br/>I’ll probably write more fics that aren’t related to this one, I love these boys &lt;3<br/>Let me know if you’re interested in those :) have a good day/night!</p><p> Thanks again for reading! &lt;3</p>
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